USDA, ARS, Pacific West Area, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710

66 -- AUTOMATED DNA SEQUENCER SOL 91H2-FG-234 DUE 091198 POC Fred Gifford 510-559-6017 fax 510-559-6023 WEB: NA, NA. E-MAIL: NA, giffordf@ars.usda.gov. The USDA ARS PWA OFFICE in Albany, Ca. desires a multi-channel capillary technology automated analysis system that provides high resolution separation of DNA molecules resulting from capillary gel electrophoresis and using di-deoxy terminator sequencing technology. Full automation of activities of DNA sequencing from sample denaturation to final base-calling. Multi-channel operation of at least 8 glass capillaries. Automatic sequential handling of 96 samples in microliter plates such that no user intervention is required to perform DNA sequencing on these 96 samples. Containment of DNA samples in a thermocycler plate that allows DNA sequencing reactions to be set up. cycled, cleaned, resuspended, and loaded, all from the same plate. Automated purging of the manifold reservoir immediately before the start of a separation. Simultaneous and automatic filling of multiple capillaries with the separation matrix immediately before the start of a separation. Pre-mixed and ready-to-use gel matrix comes in a filled cartridge sufficient for at least 96 capillary loads. Automatic optical configurations: alignment of multiple capillaries and laser detection. Pre-assembled multi-capillary arrays are utilized. Complete remounting of new capillary array within 5 min. Maintenance of the capillary array in a wetting environment while not in use -- to maintain capillary performance over extended times. Two hours for a complete separation for the set of capillaries -- includes automated calling of 500 bases to an accuracy of 98% or better. A complete microliter plate containing 96 samples can be completely sequenced in 24 hours. The parameters of the separation can be altered by the user to maximize the specific sequencing needs: time, temperature, and voltage. Raw data is displayed to the user on a "real time" basis. No re-tracking of lanes is required. Coincident bases calling and subsequent operation. Data exportable in a variety of file formats: Staden. CSV, FastA, ASCII. Data exportable to a variety of destinations: floppy drives, CD-writer, network drives, etc. The Government intends to negotiate with the only responsible source known Beckman who can supply the CEQ-2000 which is the only known source for this type of instrument. A solicitation is not available for this notice. Interested firms are encouraged to submit proposals containing descriptive literature of their products to the attention of Fred Gifford mailing address shown in this notice. See numbered Note 22**** Posted 07/27/98 (W-SN228889). (0208)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0334 19980729\66-0003.SOL)