Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Original Set Aside: Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5) Product Service Code: B529 - SPECIAL STUDIES/ANALYSIS- SCIENTIFIC DATA NAICS Code: 541690 OTHER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONSULTING SERV P... Original Set Aside: Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5) Product Service Code: B529 - SPECIAL STUDIES/ANALYSIS- SCIENTIFIC DATA NAICS Code: 541690 OTHER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONSULTING SERV Place of Performance: Raleigh, NC 27695-7624 USA 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 its Plant Science Research Unit located in Raleigh, NC. The USDA/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is seeking sources with the intent to procure analysis on global metabolite profiles of bitter and non-bitter pickling cucumber varieties in fresh, acidified, and fermented forms. The experiment will consist of the following: The minimum acceptable specifications for this service are detailed below: 1. Service must include all sample preparation and mass spectrometry analysis needed to deliver data for comprehensive metabolite profiles of 54 freeze-dried cucumber samples that include samples that have been preserved using high concentrations of salt and acid. 2. Service provider's laboratory location must enable same day transport and receipt of samples. 3. Samples must be stored at -80°C at the service provider's laboratory upon receipt and until analysis can be performed. 4. All sample handling, extraction, and analysis methods must be fully validated and documented in peer-reviewed manuscript(s) in reputable journal(s), such that full method details are available and suitable for publication of the results. Analytical platform should have a median RSD < 5% and cover a high linear range (> 7 orders of magnitude) and include QC standards for quality assurance. 5. Data must include level 1 identifications (according to the published Metabolomics Standards Initiative) of a large number of sample metabolites generated with a library of authentic standards that has broad coverage (> 4000 compounds from > 60 compounds classes) 6. Services must include adding cucurbitacin C to the compounds with level 1 identification confidence if it is not already in the existing library of authentic standards. 7. Data must also include abundance and accurate mass data (mass resolution of at least 35,000) for novel metabolites that are confirmed to be genuine sample metabolites but not yet fully identified. 8. Services must include statistical comparisons between bitter and non-bitter cucumber samples as well as the effects of acidification and fermentation treatments for the two cucumber types. These statistical comparisons must account for the false discovery rate. 9. Services must include pathway analysis of the named metabolites (level 1 identifications) as well as access to pathway analysis tools for customizing the data visualization and generating high resolution, exportable figures for scientific publications and presentations. 10. USDA will maintain the ownership of the data and study results. 11. Access to the raw mass spectral data (including MS/MS data) will be made available for additional data mining and upload to public metabolomics data repositories. • Business size: With regard to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541690 per the standard described in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19.102. • Small business versus large business, other socio-economic categories such as Section 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (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 keith.enoch@usda.gov on or before Monday, September 21, 2020 no later than 8:00 am EDT. Hard copies of the responses are not required and will not be accepted.