SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Characterization of the sortase enzyme of Renibacterium salmoninarum
- Notice Date
- 7/26/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 561990
— All Other Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Region Acquisition Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, Northeast, Seattle, WA, 98115-6349, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- WASC-7-0615
- Response Due
- 8/9/2007
- Archive Date
- 8/24/2007
- Description
- This requirement is being procured in accordance with FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The office of NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) located in Seattle, WA intends to negotiate a sole source contract with the University of Idaho for Characterization of the sortase enzyme of Renibacterium salmoninarum and its role in virulence and possibility as a target for therapeutic intervention. Aquaculture is one of the most promising and the fastest growing agri-food industry in the world. However, sustained growth of aquaculture is threatened by many bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases inflicting severe production and economic losses to the industry. Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) is a very serious systemic infection affecting salmonid fishes in commercial, resource enhancement aquaculture, in wild populations worldwide, and particularly in conservation programs designed to increase numbers of salmon currently listed under the Endangered Species Act. The causative agent of BKD is Renibacterium salmoninarum, which is a very fastidious Gram-positive intracellular bacterium. Controlling the disease by brood stock culling and erythromycin treatment has met with limited success and the efficacy of presently available attenuated live vaccines is limited. The slow-growing properties of R. salmoninarum, as well as the chronic nature of the disease that it usually causes, have contributed to the slow pace with which information on it has been gathered. In addition, other properties of the pathogen, particularly its ability to enter and survive inside eggs and phagocytic cells, have greatly complicated the task of developing methods for controlling renibacterial infections. The unavailability of an effective vaccine is mainly due to the insufficient knowledge of the virulence mechanisms of the bacteria. I. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES a. Objective Continued losses due to BKD continue to harm all conservation programs for salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act. The development of improved disease control measures are of prime importance to the contractor. The objective of the work is to identify and characterize the R. salmoninarum sortase, an enzyme that is required for expression and cell wall anchoring of cell surface proteins and virulence (Marraffini, et al. 2006). In other Gram-positive bacteria where it has been studied, inactivation of this enzyme with a class of small molecule drugs results in an attenuated phenotype. Thus, control of BKD could be accomplished without the necessity of antibiotics, and avoids problems of drug resistance. The work to be performed under this contract will build on and be aided by an existing project at NWFSC to sequence the genome of R. salmoninarum. The work to be carried out will build on this project using a variety of molecular biology, microbiology, and bioinformatics tools to identify and characterize the proteins of interest. Prior work under a previous contract has established that the sortase is functional in R. salmoninarum, and inhibition of its activity results in a reduction in the ability of the bacterium to bind to fibronectin, as well as reduces cytotoxicity, adherence, and invasion of a chinook salmon embryo cell line (CHSE-214) by the bacterium (Sudheesh, et al. in press). b. Scope The work to be carried should examine the toxicity and pharmokinetics of sortase-inhibitory drugs in salmonids, and to determine their efficacy to control BKD. In addition, the work should include the construction of specific genetic mutants of R. salmoninarum unable to express the sortase gene, building on the working hypothesis that the sortase gene is a key component of the bacterial protein secretion system and is required for bacterial adherence and virulence. In addition, such a mutant will aid identification of sortase substrates that may prove to be effective vaccine candidates. Findings generated may lead to non-toxic methods to treat BKD in salmon, without the use of antibiotics. The period of performance is from date of award through September 30, 2008. The intended acquisition is for services for which the Government intends to acquire from one source under the authority of 41 USC 234 (c) (1), Only One Responsible Source. This is not a request for proposals and there is no solicitation available at this time. The government reserves the right to solicit offers based on receipt of affirmative responses to this notice, or issue a contract to the University of Idaho without further notice. All interested parties must respond to this announcement within fifteen (15) calendar days of its publication. All responses must be in writing and may be faxed to (206) 527-7166 attention to Melvin Fondue. ****The Western Regional Acquisition Division, requires that all contractors doing business with this Acquisition Office be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) as of October 1, 2003. After this date, NO award can be made unless the vender is registered in CCR. For additional information and to register in CCR please access the following web site: http://www.ccr.gov. In order to register with the CCR and to be eligible to receive an award from this acquisition office, all offerors must have a Dun & Bradstreet Number. A Dun & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on-line at www.dnb.com/eupdate or by phone at (800) 333-0505. All contractors are also required to complete online Representations and Certifications at HTTP://ORCA.BPN.GO
- Place of Performance
- Address: Seattle, WA
- Zip Code: 98112
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 98112
- Record
- SN01352984-W 20070728/070726220537 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |