Sole Source Justification_Redacted.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

MANDATORY TEMPLATE FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENTS UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

1. Estimated Dollar Value:

2. Anticipated Period of Performance: September-December 2021

3. Does the anticipated Period of Performance include option years? If no, explain.

a. No. The Period of Performance does not include option years as we would like to have these services performed and completed as soon as possible.

4. Sources Sought Notice posted to Contract Opportunities and attached to this document?

Yes No

5. Market Research conducted and attached to this document? If not, explain.

Yes, sources sought notice.

6. Is this a new requirement or a follow-on to an expiring award?

New requirement Follow-on to an expiring award

7. Describe the requirement. Please note that the requirement is the minimum acceptable specification or capability, and is not necessarily the best in the industry. Please note whether any additional follow-on work is anticipated in response to the current proposed effort.

The service provider will identify novel protein-protein interactions of candidate proteins using the ULTImate yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) technology. The service provider should screen the ULTImate yeast two-hybrid platform to discover novel protein interactions. The vendor will generate a highly complex cDNA library generated from barley variety (CI16151) and screen this library to identify novel protein partners with a barley disease resistance protein. The service provider will screen cDNA libraries generated from maize using the ULTImate yeast two-hybrid platform to identify protein-protein interactions with two fungal effectors. The vendor must be able to identify weak or transient protein-protein interactions.

The vendor should provide an exhaustive list of identified protein partners, the experimental interaction domain on each protein, and a confidence score to the Crop Production and Pest Control Research Unit. The vendor must perform additional screens if the initial results provide less than 20 positive clones. Delivery schedule: three-to-six months from the time of sample submission

8. List the proposed vendor and contact information. Hybrigenics Services, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, EVRY COURCOURONNES, 91000 France, Brent Passer, bpasser@hybrigenics.com, +1 (617) 959-7100

9. Describe why the proposed vendor is the only vendor from which the requirement can be obtained. Examples of acceptable justifications include but are not limited to: sole manufacturer and seller, adherence to warranty provisions, urgency, etc. If other vendors can provide similar products or services, describe why they cannot meet our particular requirement.

One of the major goals of the Crop Production and Pest Control Research Unit is to identify host proteins targeted by pathogen-secreted effectors and, using this information, subsequently introduce new-to-nature disease resistance traits in cereal grains. We are, therefore, very much interested in applying the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) technology) to identify novel protein-protein interactions for several candidate proteins. We are thus proposing to utilize the services provided by Hybrigenics for several reasons. Unlike several other commercial companies who perform these services, Hybrigenics can identify weak and transient protein-protein interactions. This is a critical requirement in our experimental design as it is very likely that our candidate proteins interact with multiple host proteins and such interactions are predicted to be transient.

Second, unlike other service providers, Hybrigenics provides clients with a comprehensive, publication-ready analysis report of the candidate protein partners and assigns a statistical confidence score to each identified protein-protein interaction. Such bioinformatic analyses is a required service for our research project and is not offered by other vendors. Moreover, Hybrigenics