Amplicon sequencing services

The U.S. Geological Survey Office of Acquisitions and Grants seeks amplicon sequencing services through a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Blanket Purchase Agreement with quotations due September 18, 2026 and questions due August 27, 2026. This is a 100 percent WOSB set-aside.

Place of performance is the Upper Midwest Water Science Center, 5840 Enterprise Drive, Lansing, Michigan 48911-4107. The BPA ceiling is $250,000 across the entire five-year performance period from September 17, 2026 through September 16, 2031, with individual BPA Call orders limited to purchases under $100,000. The NAICS code is 541714, Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology), with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.

The contractor must provide 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing services including library preparation, quality control, and sequencing analysis using either Illumina MiSeq or AVITI platforms. AVITI sequencing capability is mandatory. The government anticipates shipping 70–94 samples annually for Illumina sequencing (up to 500 samples per year) and 94–394 samples per batch for AVITI sequencing (up to 1,600 samples per year). Sequencing results must meet minimum specifications: Illumina runs must achieve 3.6–4.5 Gbp or 12–15 million read pairs; AVITI medium flow cells must achieve 35 million read pairs or high flow cells 100 million. Data delivery is required within 60 business days of sample receipt. The contractor must provide secure server access for a minimum of 60 days and archive data for at least one year.

Evaluation ranks non-priced factors significantly more important than cost, weighing Qualifications (equipment and personnel experience plus internal QA/QC procedures), Technical Performance (two-page narrative demonstrating capabilities), and Past Performance (two customer references from the last five years). Amendment 0001, issued September 16, 2026, extended the closing date from September 4 to September 18 and requires offerors to acknowledge receipt of the amendment.