Abstract

Since the discovery of B chromosomes, multiple different definitions of these selfish genetic elements have been put forth. We reconsidered early definitions in light of recently published studies. While there are many characteristics that vary among different B chromosomes, such as their evolutionary origins, size, segregation behaviors, gene content, and function, there is one defining trait of all B chromosomes: they are nonessential for the organism. The points raised here may be useful for framing future B chromosome studies and help guide the categorization of new chromosomal elements that are uncovered in genomic studies.

Details

Title
What is a B chromosome? Early definitions revisited
Author
Ferree, Patrick M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Blagojević, Jelena 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Houben, Andreas 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Martins, Cesar 4 ; Trifonov, Vladimir A 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Vujošević, Mladen 2 

 Department of Natural Sciences, Pitzer College, Scripps College , Claremont, CA 91711 , USA 
 Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” – National Institute for the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade , Belgrade 11060 , Serbia 
 Department of Cytogenetics and Genome Analysis, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben , Seeland 06466 , Germany 
 Institute of Bioscience at Botucatu, São Paulo State University (UNESP) , Botucatu, SP 18618-689 , Brazil 
 Research Institute for Limnology, University of Innsbruck , Mondsee A-5310 , Austria 
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Jun 2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
21601836
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3169740295
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Genetics Society of America. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.