Contract research and protocol development

What we do

Most commercial tissue culture work follows an established protocol for a known species. Research work is different: the species is new, the cultivar is difficult, or the objective is to improve an existing protocol. We'd like to work with industry bodies, universities, breeders, and private clients on this kind of R&D.

Projects typically include one or more of: explant selection and sterilisation, culture-medium formulation, multiplication-rate trials, rooting-phase optimisation, acclimatisation loss reduction, and follow-on field or glasshouse performance assessment.

Typical projects

• New-species protocol development. A breeder, grower, or research partner has a species that is not routinely tissue-cultured. We'd establish explants, optimise media, and define a repeatable workflow.
• Cultivar-specific optimisation. An existing tissue culture protocol does not work well for a specific cultivar. We'd identify the limiting step and optimise it.
• Variety trials. Comparative performance of cultivars in vitro, ex vitro, or in the field, against defined metrics.
• Emerging-industry trial work. Emerging-industry species such as agave are a particular focus, and trial work in this area is something we're keen to take on.

Who we'd like to work with

We'd like to work with private growers and nurseries, industry bodies and research corporations, plant breeders and variety holders, universities, and conservation organisations. Research work would be confidential by default; anything we publish would be done with the partner's permission.

Scoping a project

To scope a research project we need the species and cultivar, the starting material available, the research question or performance target, and the intended timeframe. We will then set out what is realistic, indicate cost, and agree milestones.