This is a Sources Sought Notice only.  This Sources Sought Notice does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, Request for Proposals, or a Request for Quotations, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue an order or otherwise pay for the information solicited, nor is it a guarantee of a forthcoming solicitation or contract.  The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes only.  Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.

The USDA/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is conducting market research to support the USDA/ARS/NEA, ABBL, Beltsville, MD location.

RNA Sequencing Service

 Statement of Work and Minimum Requirements for Turkey Sperm Storage Tubule (SST) Tissues

The requested quote for RNA sequencing of 50 turkey SST samples covers all aspects of service, including RNA quality assessment, library preparation, library quality assessment, and sequencing. Specifically, RNA extracted from laser capture micro-dissected samples will be evaluated for quality through bioanalyzer analysis.

High quality RNA will be used to generate libraries using a library generation kit that is ideal for low concentrations of RNA and for the enrichment of messenger RNA; this is a minimum requirement due to the limited numbers of cells in the samples and the high levels of ribosomal RNA in SST samples. Additionally, any samples that are deemed of a lower quality can be replaced prior to moving on to library preparation, guaranteeing only high-quality samples will be sequenced. Next Generation Sequencing will be completed using the Illumina NovaSeq (300 cycles) with a read length of 2 x 150 (Paired End) allocated over 1.5 lanes, with a guaranteed number of 50 million paired-end reads (25M reads in each direction) pass filter reads per sample. The guaranteed turnaround time from the project start date is 6 weeks; this is a minimum requirement.  The company has specialized experience with all aspects of RNA sequencing; this is a minimum requirement.

Provide the following unique service aspects that we require to process and analyze our samples:

1. Communication of sample and library quality checks with the sequencing core at each step of the process;

2. The use of a RNA sequencing library generation kit that is stranded and enriched for messenger RNA;

3. The ability to replace any RNA samples that did not reach the core's minimum standards prior to sequencing;

4. Guaranteed number of 50 million paired-end reads (25M reads in each direction) pass filter reads per sample;

5. Access to the Illumina NovaSeq Platform, which allows high-throughput yet cost-effective sequencing;

6. Guaranteed turnaround time from the project start date of 6 weeks;

7. A low co

Responses should include:

Organization Name, Address, Contact Phone Number, E-mail Address, and Web Site Address.

Business Size.  (Small business versus Large business), other socio-economic categories such as Section 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUB-Zone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB).

DUNS Number and CAGE code.

Tailored capability statements addressing the salient characteristics listed, with appropriate documentation supporting capability.

Responses to this Notice must be in writing.  Telephone inquiries will not be accepted.  Interested parties should e-mail responses to [email protected] on or before Monday, August 17, 2020 no later than 2:00 pm CDT.  Hard copies of the responses are not required and will not be accepted.

Responses should include:

Organization Name, Address, Contact Phone Number, E-mail Address, and Web Site Address.

Business Size.  (Small business versus Large business), other socio-economic categories such as Section 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUB-Zone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB).

DUNS Number and CAGE code.

Tailored capability statements addressing the salient characteristics listed, with appropriate documentation supporting capability.

Responses to this Notice must be in writing.  Telephone inquiries will not be accepted.  Interested parties should e-mail responses to [email protected] on or before Monday, August 17, 2020 no later than 2:00 pm CDT.  Hard copies of the responses are not required and will not be accepted.

st for the project considering the number of samples and the sequencing platform chosen.