What Is The Difference Between White And Clear PCR Tubes?

When choosing PCR tube consumables, what is the difference between white tubes and transparent tubes? How to choose and match PCR plates with various skirt styles? Let's give you a brief explanation of these two issues!

1. White & transparent PCR tubes/plates

Common PCR tubes/plates are white and transparent. In traditional PCR experiments, there is not much difference between the two in use. However, in fluorescent quantitative PCR experiments, for qPCR instruments that need to read the top signal, white The sensitivity and consistency of the tube are relatively higher. Let's briefly talk about the reasons below.

The core data of qPCR is the Ct value, and the fluorescent signal is the data source for the calculation of the Ct value, so it is very important whether the fluorescence in the tube can be transmitted to the detector intact. The white tube wall can prevent the fluorescence from passing through the tube wall and refraction, thereby preventing the fluorescence from passing to the heating module, that is, the metal hole wall where the tube is placed. The transparent tube will cause the fluorescence to be absorbed by the module or reflect inconsistently. Therefore, compared with transparent tubes, using white tubes can effectively avoid signal interference, thereby collecting stronger and more focused fluorescent signals.

2. Non-skirted & semi-skirted & full-skirted PCR plates

The skirt of a PCR plate refers to the extension around the plate. The common ones are skirtless, half-skirted and full-skirted. Non-skirted plates can be used in all models, while fully-skirted PCR plates are usually used in automated workstations. The skirt function is to provide stable support for the pipetting process when setting up the reaction system, and to provide mechanical strength and grip when combined with an automated workstation. To put it simply, the significance of the skirt lies more in the convenience of industrialization and automated batch processing, and the combination with the robotic arm.
Semi-skirted PCR plates are usually divided into two general types, Roche and ABI, which are used for these two PCR machines.

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