The raw material of PCR tube consumables is usually polypropylene. This kind of life science consumables is a good heat-resistant inert substance (the use temperature range is -30 ~ 140℃), can withstand the thermal energy changes in the process of the PCR reaction heat cycle, very good closure and protection of the material in the PCR tube reaction system. Commons are white tubes and transparent tubes. In conventional PCR experiments, there was no difference. However, in the same quantitative fluorescence qPCR experiment, the sensitivity and consistency of the white tube are relatively higher for the apical signal reading qPCR instrument (the fluorescence signal is collected above the tube). qPCR consumables must be free of contaminants and inhibitors. High pressure and radiation remove bacteria and DNases, but not dust and DNA residues, which may inhibit PCR tube reactions or produce nonspecific amplifications. Substances are absorbance, even a small pollutant will absorb the fluorescence in the reaction system, affecting the collection of fluorescence signal.
The capacity of the PCR tube determines how many samples can be added (reaction volume). Adding too many samples will lead to a decrease of heat conduction efficiency, overflow, or cross-contamination; However, insufficient sample addition will cause evaporation loss of samples. The heating module of the qPCR apparatus also determines the suitable consumables and the applicable reaction system size. Flux is easily understood as the maximum number of samples that can be loaded into a single experiment. Common capacity and flux specifications are single-tube/8 strip PCR tubes, 96 well PCR plates, and 384-well plates.
