TIMS qTOF LC-MS for Grand Forks, Noth Dakota

A market survey is being conducted to determine if there are adequate Small Business, SBA-certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), Women-Owned, or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) contractors available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below. This is not a solicitation Announcement or Request for Proposal. It does not constitute any commitment by the Government. No award will result from this notice. The purpose is to conduct market research to gain knowledge of potentially qualified sources. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will be used by the Government to make an appropriate acquisition decision.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will not award a contract on the basis of responses or pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. After completing an analysis of the responses, the Government will determine whether to limit competition to 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, Women-Owned, or other small business firms, or to proceed with issuing an unrestricted solicitation, inviting full and open competition.

The Government is in need of a TIMS qTOF LC-MS.

• The MS instrument must be a high resolution qTOF system (60,000 FWHM at m/z 1222 independent of MS or MS/MS sequencing speed) which will be used in a 4D OMICS data collection modality (chromatography RT, collisional cross-sectional value, MS1 and MS2)
• The MS instrument must contain a trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) analyzer delivering high mobility resolution and true collision cross section (CCS) values for each ion (eg lipid, metabolite or peptide), which is also used to aid in identification as well as MS1, MS2 ions.
• Ion mobility resolution must be user controllable between approximately 50 and 200
• The instrument must be able to perform parallel accumulation to achieve near 100% duty cycle for data dependent MS/MS mode
• The MS instrument must have the Parallel Accumulation Serial Fragmentation (PASEF) functionality
• System must operate in untargeted acquisition mode (eg. PASEF, DIA-PASEF) for discovery experiments and in targeted quantification mode (eg. PRM-PASEF) for target verification/validation
• Must be combined with and integrated software control of nanoelute2 and elutePLUS HPLC and Mass Spectrometer from a single data system
• The MS instrument must utilize CID and nitrogen gas for fragmentation
• The MS instrument with ESI source allowing positive and negative ion detection; the needle of the ESI source has to be on ground potential for easy interface with LC or other ion sources or separation techniques (eg. DART and or CE)
• Nano ESI source must feature captive spray technology to shape the nebulizing gas/spray for maximum ion yield into the Mass Spectrometer
• Quadrupole control system allowing to synchronize quadrupole isolation with mobility elution time for the parent ion

Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a Capabilities Statement which, for this notice, is not expected to be a proposal, but rather short statements regarding the company’s ability to demonstrate their expertise and experience in relation to the areas specified in this notice. Companies should also indicate whether they are a Small Business, SBA-certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), SDVOSB, or Women-Owned Small Business.

Responses should be submitted by 1 p.m. Central Time on August 6, 2024, to the attention of Erin M. Riffey at erin.riffey@usda.gov. Questions should be directed to Erin M. Riffey at erin.riffey@usda.gov.