Martins Cesar, Trifonov Vladimir, Houben Andreas
Cytogenet Genome Res. 2020;160(3):111-117. doi: 10.1159/000506695. Epub 2020 Mar 7.
B chromosomes (Bs) are enigmatic accessory genomic elements extensively characterized in diverse eukaryotes. Since their discovery in the beginning of the 20th century, B chromosomes have been the subject of investigation in laboratories all around the world. As a consequence, scientific meetings have dealt with B chromosomes, including the most specific and important conference in the field, "The B Chromosome Conference." The 4th B Chromosome Conference (4BCC) took place in Botucatu, Brazil, in 2019 and was an excellent opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the B chromosome research field. B chromosome science has advanced from classical and molecular cytogenetics to genomics and bioinformatics approaches. The recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies and high-throughput molecular biology protocols have led Bs to be the subject of massive data analysis, thus enabling the investigation of structural and functional issues not considered before. Although extensive progress has been made, questions are still remaining to be answered. The advances in functional studies based on RNA, epigenetics, and gene ontologies open the perspective to a better understanding of the complex biology of B chromosomes.
B染色体（Bs）是神秘的辅助基因组元件，在多种真核生物中得到了广泛研究。自20世纪初被发现以来，B染色体一直是世界各地实验室的研究对象。因此，科学会议也涉及B染色体，包括该领域最具专业性和重要性的会议——“B染色体会议”。第四届B染色体会议（4BCC）于2019年在巴西博图卡图举行，是讨论B染色体研究领域最新进展的绝佳契机。B染色体科学已从经典和分子细胞遗传学发展到基因组学和生物信息学方法。新一代测序技术和高通量分子生物学方案的最新进展使B染色体成为海量数据分析的对象，从而能够研究以前未考虑的结构和功能问题。尽管已取得了广泛进展，但仍有一些问题有待解答。基于RNA、表观遗传学和基因本体论的功能研究进展为更好地理解B染色体的复杂生物学特性开辟了前景。
