Published date: 17 January 2024

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 2 February 2024, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Research laboratory services - 73111000

Location of contract

London

Value of contract

£25,000 to £50,000

Procurement reference

BIP836041993

Published date

17 January 2024

Closing date

2 February 2024

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

4 March 2024

Contract end date

3 September 2025

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) intends to appoint a supplier for a high-throughput sequencing service from ancient-DNA extractions sourced from historical herbarium collections of cacao specimens (Theobroma cacao, Malvaceae) and wild relative species (Theobroma/Herrania spp.).

Utilizing a CTAB-extraction method, the extracted samples will be sent in batches. The supplier must conduct pre-quality control (QC) tests (including RNase treatment and DNA purification, if necessary) on these total-genome DNA extractions, ensuring acceptable yields and concentrations. Tasks also include library preparation using the Nextera XT Library Kit and performing paired-end whole genomic sequencing (WGS) using the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (or an equally powerful sequencing platform) to seek obtaining ideally ~12 Gb per sample, depending on the conditions of the sample. This process aims to cover 120-140 samples, targeting a coverage of 15-30x each, given the known genome size of Theobroma species at ~450-490 Mbp.

The supplier should be acquainted with high-throughput sequencing from aged herbarium samples, due to the historical nature of these collections (preserved over 50-100 years ago). They are expected to have previous experience in the production of satisfactory data under these conditions and will need to state this in the application. Each sample sent will contain 25-50 uL of DNA, predominantly at concentrations of 10 ng/uL (some with less, but never less than 0.5 ng/uL of total DNA). It is expected that many samples will have heavily fragmented DNA, and the supplier should be able to present alternatives to deal with these.

Following sequencing, the supplier should conduct post-QC to verify data quality before delivery. Data transfer methods such as USB, HDD, or preferably Cloud transfer are viable options.

The genomic data obtained will support an ongoing project at RBG Kew. This project aims to comprehensively study the geographical history, and other population genomic studies of Theobroma cacao at a global scale, utilising molecular data obtained from historical herbarium collections combined with data obtained from other sources.

More information

Links

Additional text

The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.

About the buyer

Contact name

Prabhu Subramanian

Address

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
LONDON
TW9 3AB
UK

Email

procurement@kew.org