Statement of Work.pdf

Statement of Work Project: Digital Imager with Visible Light, UV, Chemiluminescent and Fluorescent

Capabilities

GENERAL INFORMATION

1.0 Scope of Work: Purchase of a digital imager to be used for documentation of DNA and protein gels, Western blots, and fluorescent-marked bacteria grown on plates.

2.0 Background: This imager will be used to replace an aging imager that is no longer fully functional. The old imager is capable of visible light, UV, and chemiluminescent imaging. The new imager desired will retain all of those capabilities and add fluorescent imaging to expand the experimental capabilities of the laboratory.

CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

3.0 Technical Requirements/Tasks:

The imager must meet the following specifications:

• Ability to image a wide range of gels (DNA and protein), blots (Western, Southern, Northern), and three-dimensional subjects such as bacterial plates (petri dish).

• At least 9.1 MP CCD camera with a Peltier cooling system capable of cooling down to -20°C to minimize electronic noise in the image.

• Motorized lens for automatic focusing.

• Light tight cabinet for imaging in total darkness.

• Dual wavelength (302 and 365 nm) UV trans-illuminator with safety overrides for DNA gel imaging with dyes such as ethidium bromide or GelRed.

• Blue light imaging (472 nm) for blue fluorescent dyes such as SYBR green and Midori Green Xtra.

• LED illumination in Blue (472 ± 15 nm), Green (524 ± 12 nm), and Red (628 ± 16 nm) for three-channel multiplex detection of visible fluorescent dyes such as Cy2/GFP, Cy3/RFP, and Cy5 used in gel and blot staining and bacterial expression of fluorescent proteins.

• Laser modules for NIR (near-infrared) excitation at 685 nm and 784 nm for two-channel multiplex detection of NIR fluorphores used in fluorescent Western blotting using dyes such as AzureSpectra 700, Alexa Fluor 700, AzureSpectra 800, or DyLight 800.

• Capable of imaging chemiluminescent stains such as ECL and SuperSignal West Pico.

• Trans white light table for colorimetric gels (Coomassie blue, silver stain).

• Capable of true color imaging for opaque and translucent samples against a black or white background.

• Motorized filter wheel with 7 positions (6 filters, 1 clear)

• 6 standard filters: 513 nm, 572 nm, 595 nm, 684 nm, 735 nm, 832 nm

• Adjustable imaging positions to adapt field of view and resolution

• Minimum field of view: 20 x 16 cm

• Integrated computer control with touchscreen (must not require a connection to an external computer)

• Onboard storage of at least 50 GB

• USB ports for connection of external peripherals such as a printer or USB memory stick

• Dedicated on-board software with automatic capture modes for fast and easy imaging as well as fully adjustable manual control of exposure

• Ability to save customized imaging protocols

• Ability to capture both single and multi-channel images, with up to

4 channel imaging in a single multiplex acquisition.

• Ability to edit images and save in multiple formats (TIFF, JPEG, BMP) directly on the imager

• Stand alone analysis software for installation on user computers must also be included.

• Analysis software must be capable of image editing (cropping, multi-format exporting), gel and blot analysis (band quantification, molecular weight determination, image normalization), and colony counting

• At least 1 year warranty

4.0 Government Furnished: N/A

5.0 Deliverables/Schedule: 45 Days ARO

6.0 Evaluation Factors Technical capability

7.0 Technical Point of Contact: Should there be technical questions, please contact

Sarah Shore at 515-337-7168, sarah.shore@usda.gov to reach POC.

8.0 Place of Delivery:

National Animal Disease Center, USDA-ARS 1920 Dayton Ave.

Ames, IA 50010