First, how
many of the observed polymorphic sites were due to PCR errors?
Second, how much will the PCR errors affect study conclusions?
To answer the first question, we can estimate the numbers of
potential errors using the known enzyme error rate from the
enzyme provider (Thermo Scientific). The enzyme we used has an
error rate of 2.261025 errors per nucleotide per cycle. We
amplified 40 cycles, giving an error rate of 8.861024 per
nucleotide per amplification;