Q and A for 12505B23Q0145.pdf

Questions and Answers for Solicitation # 12505B23Q0145

Q: Do you require the FAR provisions to be completed and attached to the quote?

A: As stated in the solicitation description, FAR provisions FAR 52.204-24 and FAR 52.212-3 are to be completed in their entirety and included with your quote submission documentation.

*Note: The applicable FAR provisions are provided in the attachments to the solicitation on SAM.gov.

Q: Would you rather be sent the pdf of the FAR provisions as a separate document?

A: The FAR provisions can be submitted as a separate document or with the company quote as part of a single document.

Q: Would you rather be sent the quotes in a single file or is sending individual quotes acceptable?

A: We would prefer a single quote with all of the required services included on it as they will be included on a single award.

Q: For socioeconomic status, we are not sure of how to word our response to this. If there are any specific responses you would like us to choose from, please let me know.

A: Socioeconomic status included: (1) Small Business, (2) Disadvantaged, (3) SBA-certified 8(a) Program Participant, (4) SBA-certified HUB Zone Business, (5) Veteran Owned, (6) Service-Disabled Veteran Owned, (7) Woman-Owned, and (8) Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned. You should include all of the socioeconomic statuses that you qualify for on your quote. If you do not qualify for any of these under the applicable NAICS 541714 then you are either a large business (if incorporated in the USA) or a foreign business (if incorporated outside of the USA).

*Note: This solicitation has been set aside for vendors that qualify as a small business under NAICS 541714. Any quotes received from vendors that do not qualify as small businesses under one or more of the socioeconomic statuses for NAICS 541714 will be disqualified from consideration for award.

Q: Do you require ~350M PE150 reads for RNA-seq?

A: Yes, as stated in the solicitation description and the Statement of Work in attachments.

Q: We usually provide polyA-enriched mRNA-seq with ~20M PE150 reads (~6G data). Would this be sufficient?

A: This is not enough. We require the requested total coverage for the RNAseq portion.

Q: The SOW mentioned 16s and ITS, but it did not specify the region. Can you clarify? What region do you require for 16S and ITS amplicon sequencing?

A: 16S rRNA gene: (V3 and V4 regions), Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2).

Q: Will we be using an entire cricket for each prep?

A: Yes.

Q: How big are the crickets (mg)?

A: About 300 mg.

Q: Are the crickets alive or frozen, etc.?

A: Frozen.

Q: Are they whole crickets or smashed?

A: Whole.

Q: If using bead beating, will the crickets fit into a bead tube (2 ml tube)?

A: Yes.

Q: Can you clarify the sample count for the microbiome data analysis of gryllodes sigillatus samples? Is it 39 original samples that will be split into two sets, one set for 16s sequencing and one set for ITS2 sequencing? Will the total amount of cricket samples for 16S + ITS sequencing be 39 or 78?

A: As outlined in the solicitation description and the Statement of Work in the attachments the 39 gryllodes sigillatus samples are to be divided in half with one half receiving 16S amplicon library preparation and the other half receiving ITS amplicon library preparation before both halves (or 78) receiving next generation sequencing, microbiome data analysis, and data delivery.