Yeast Two-Hybrid (Y2H) Screening Service

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service seeks Yeast Two-Hybrid (Y2H) Screening Service for the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, with quotations due August 28 and questions due August 21. This is a Total Small Business set-aside; only small business concerns may quote.

Place of performance is Ithaca, New York. The NAICS code is 541714, Research and Development in Biotechnology, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. The PSC is B529, Special Studies/Analysis—Scientific Data.

The Government intends one firm-fixed-price purchase order award for a one-year base period (September 15, 2026 through September 14, 2027) and four one-year option periods, not to exceed five years total. The contract is a commercial items acquisition under FAR Part 12 and is being administered by the USDA ARS Acquisition and Property Division in Beltsville, Maryland. Contracting Officer Amber Sampson and Contract Specialist Kerrie Hodges are primary contacts; questions must be submitted via email to kerrie.hodges@usda.gov.

The Statement of Work requires the contractor to design and construct three viral bait clones suitable for Y2H screening, generate high-quality aphid cDNA prey libraries from Government-furnished RNA samples, and conduct large-scale Y2H screening to identify aphid proteins interacting with poleroviral proteins. Deliverables include validated bait constructs (45 days), aphid prey libraries (90 days), a Y2H screening dataset with technical report (165 days), and a final technical report (190 days). Monthly progress reports are required. Evaluation follows a lowest price technically acceptable approach. Offerors must submit pricing for the base period and all four option years or risk exclusion. All contract data generated shall be considered Government data with unlimited rights retained by the United States Government; the contractor shall not assert ownership, copyright, or proprietary rights in the data.