Fig. 1. Amplification efficiencies for target α2-adrenergic receptor (α2AR) subtype and corresponding competitor. (A ) Representative agarose gel analysis of α2cAR subtype (upper band, α2c= 573 bp) and its competitor (lower band, α2ccompetitor = 540 bp). Polymerase chain reactions were removed from the cycler every five cycles from 0 to 40 cycles; lane 1 represents zero cycles, lane 2 represents five cycles, and so forth (see text). (B ) Log10of the band intensity of the products (y -axis) was graphed as a function of the number of cycles (x -axis). Slopes for each set of target α2AR subtype (•) and corresponding competitor (▴) were similar, indicating that the products were amplified with equal efficiency; α2AR slope = 0.123, α2acompetitor slope = 0.130; α2bAR slope = 0.122, α2bcompetitor slope = 0.122; α2cAR slope = 0.092, α2ccompetitor slope = 0.097.