Su Handong, Liu Yalin, Liu Yang, Birchler James A, Han Fangpu
State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Genes (Basel). 2018 Oct 1;9(10):476. doi: 10.3390/genes9100476.
The maize B chromosome is a non-essential chromosome with an accumulation mechanism. The dispensable nature of the B chromosome facilitates many types of genetic studies in maize. Maize lines with B chromosomes have been widely used in studies of centromere functions. Here, we discuss the maize B chromosome alongside the latest progress of B centromere activities, including centromere misdivision, inactivation, reactivation, and de novo centromere formation. The meiotic features of the B centromere, related to mini-chromosomes and the control of the size of the maize centromere, are also discussed.
玉米B染色体是一种具有积累机制的非必需染色体。B染色体的 dispensable 性质有助于在玉米中进行多种类型的遗传研究。具有B染色体的玉米品系已广泛用于着丝粒功能的研究。在这里，我们结合B着丝粒活动的最新进展讨论玉米B染色体，包括着丝粒错分、失活、重新激活和从头着丝粒形成。还讨论了与小染色体和玉米着丝粒大小控制相关的B着丝粒的减数分裂特征。
