Bioreagent grade for molecular biology

We suspended individual parasite-infected erythrocytes in freshly prepared lysis buffer, overlaid them with one drop (approx. 25 μl) of mineral oil (light mineral oil, BioReagent grade for molecular biology, Sigma Aldrich, USA), and stored them at − 80 °C until WGA. We amplified DNA in a clean positive pressure hood located in a dedicated room, using dedicated reagents and pipettes, and stored them in a dedicated box at − 20 °C. We wore a new disposable lab coat, gloves, and a face mask during reagent preparation, cell lysis, and WGA steps. We decontaminated all surfaces of the clean hood, pipettes, and tube racks with DNAZap (PCR DNA Degradation Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA), followed by Cavicide (Metrex Research, Orange, CA), and an 80% ethanol rinse prior to each use. We autoclaved all tubes, tube racks, and the waste bin on a dry vacuum cycle for 45 min. Finally, we used sealed sterile filter tips, new nuclease-free water (Qiagen, USA) for each experiment, and filtered all salt solutions through a 30-mm syringe filter with 0.22 μm pore size (Argos Technologies, USA) before use in each experiment.