The hif operon of Hib AM30 (43), showing PCR primers used to amplify the region. Open arrows, genes; arrowheads, 57-bp direct repeats flanking the hif operon; double-headed arrow (not to scale), overlapping promoter region between hifA and hifB; closed arrows (not to scale), external primers purE-F and pepN-R, used to amplify the entire purE-pepN region, and primers hifA-F and hifE-R, used to make the hif-specific probe.