To improve resolution for physical ordering of adjacent DNA loci, prophase chromosomes were used for multi-color fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The prophase chromosomes were prepared from cultured lymphocytes by a thymidine synchronization, bromodeoxyuridine release technique and then treating the synchronized cultures with topoisomerase II inhibitors ICRF154 or ICRF193. Almost all mitotic figures exhibited highly elongated prophase chromosomes without significant reduction of the mitotic index. Using multi-color FISH with these prophase chromosomes, we were able to distinguish signals for loci separated by as little as 50 kb, and determine their orientation. Furthermore, using this prophase ordering system, we confirmed the linear order and defined the orientation of seven cosmid markers within a 360-kb region surrounding D10S102, a locus that is closely linked to the disease locus in families segregating an allele causing multiple endocrine neoplasia IIA (MEN2A). This prophase FISH system, by rapidly and precisely providing the linear order of loci that are very close, can expedite construction of fine cytogenetic maps and contribute to positional-cloning studies in which the precise ordering of DNA loci in a target region is critical.