= PCR plateau
{c}
A <PCR plateau> is the late phase in which further cycles add little product. Depletion of substrates and accumulation of reaction by-products can reduce <PCR efficiency>. Consequently, similar final <amplicon> amounts need not mean similar initial template amounts. In the stipulated green model, $0<N_n<K$ implies $N_n<N_{n+1}<K$, and growth approaches the imposed ceiling. That illustrates loss of starting-amount information without claiming to identify the limiting chemical process in an actual tube.<PCR Cycling Parameters—Six Key Considerations for Success by Thermo Fisher Scientific>[PCR cycle number determination and Figure 7: lowered efficiency and plateau from reaction-component depletion and by-products]{ref}
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