The 3,632 bp glycophorin E repeat-specific PCR product for use as a fiber-FISH probe was generated by long PCR. Long PCRs were performed in a total volume of 25 μL using a Taq/Pfu DNA polymerase blend (0.6U Taq DNA polymerase/0.08U Pfu DNA polymerase), a final concentration of 0.2 μM primers Specific_glycophorinE_F and and Specific_glycophorinE_R (Table S2), in 45 mM Tris-HCl (pH8.8), 11 mM (NH4)2SO4, 4.5 mM MgCl2, 6.7 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 4.4 mM EDTA, 1 mM of each dNTP (sodium salt), 113 μg/mL bovine serum albumin. Cycling conditions were an initial denaturation of 94°C for 1 min, a first stage consisting of 20 cycles each of 94°C for 15 s and 65°C for 10 min, and a second stage consisting of 12 cycles each of 94°C for 15 s and 65°C for 10 min (plus 15 s/cycle); these were followed by a single incubation phase of 72°C for 10 min.