FAQ
General Questions
What does Next Stage Labs do?
Next Stage Labs is an independent plant tissue culture laboratory specializing in the ornamental horticulture industry. The lab works with breeders, nurseries, and plant companies to establish clean plant material, maintain disease-free stock, and provide laboratory services that support plant development, preservation, and propagation programs. We specialize in international shipping of plant cultures to help our clients feed offshore unrooted cutting farms and production labs or get their genetics into new markets.
What is plant tissue culture?
Plant tissue culture is a method of propagating plants in a sterile laboratory setting. We start from cuttings or divisions of plants grown in gardens or greenhouses and sterilize them to grow in the lab.
Who are your typical clients?
Next Stage Labs primarily works with plant breeders, nurseries, plant development companies, and other organizations involved in ornamental, herbs, vegetable, and fruit plant production.
What types of plants do you work with?
Next Stage Labs specializes in plants within the ornamental horticulture industry. The lab works with a wide variety of ornamental species depending on the needs of plant breeders and nursery partners.
Where is Next Stage Labs located?
Next Stage Labs is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Do you work with international clients?
Yes. Next Stage Labs works with clients in the United States and internationally.
How do I start a project with Next Stage Labs?
The best way to begin is by contacting the lab to discuss your project and your plant material. This allows the team to understand the scope of your needs and determine the best approach for initiating plant material in the lab.
Do you accept material from small breeders or only large companies?
Next Stage Labs works with a variety of organizations across the horticulture industry.
Plant Tissue Culture Services
What is clean stock maintenance?
Clean stock maintenance refers to the process of maintaining plant material that is free of disease and contamination in a controlled laboratory environment.
Why is clean stock important for plant breeding and production?
Plants, just like people, are exposed to pathogens in the environment all the time and can become infected. Infected plants may not be as vigorous as healthy plants. Sometimes, infected plants will show no symptoms, but may infect an adjacent crop in a production environment. Because of this, it is good practice to start production with the healthiest plants possible.
Can tissue culture help preserve valuable plant genetics?
Yes. Tissue culture can be used to maintain plant material in a controlled environment, which helps preserve valuable genetics and ensures consistent propagation material for future production.
Do you provide analytical services such as flow cytometry?
Yes. Next Stage Labs offers analytical services to support plant breeding and development programs.
What is flow cytometry used for in plant breeding?
Flow cytometry is used to analyze plant cells and measure characteristics such as genome size and ploidy level, which can be important in breeding programs.
Working with Next Stage Labs
What information should I provide when contacting the lab?
When reaching out to Next Stage Labs, it is helpful to include information about the plant species, the type of project you are considering, and your goals for the plant material.
How long does a typical project take?
Project timelines can vary depending on the plant species, the condition of the starting material, and the scope of the project.
Can Next Stage Labs work with proprietary or confidential plant varieties?
We primarily work with proprietary and confidential plant varieties. Clients who store varieties with us have the sole access to that plant material.
How do you ensure genetic integrity of plant material?
We use as few hormones as possible and when a plant allows, will store at cold temperatures. This reduces to number of propagation cycles which reduces the likelihood of genetic drift.
Sending in Plant Material
What does Initiation Mean?
Initiation is the term we use to describe the process of taking plant material growing outdoors or in a greenhouse and sterilizing it so it can be successfully grown in the laboratory.
When is the best time for your lab to receive plant material?
Please reach out to us before sending any plant material so we can schedule the initiation with the lab. We cannot guarantee success if plant material arrives without prior communication or scheduling.
What shipping method should be used when sending plant material?
Our preferred shipping methods are FedEx Overnight or FedEx Second Day. Please do not send plant material via the United States Postal Service (USPS).
What type of source material should be sent for initiation?
The ideal source material depends on how the plant is typically propagated:
- Plants propagated by cuttings: Clean URCs (Unrooted Cuttings) are preferred.
- Plants propagated by division: As clean as possible bareroot material is ideal.
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