Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17704238›Full record

ArticleAnnals of botany2008

A century of B chromosomes in plants: so what?

R Neil Jones, Wanda Viegas, Andreas Houben

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of botany, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed
7.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

58 citing papers in PubMed, 154 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Nuclear DNA Content Analyses by Flow Cytometry of Saffron (Current issues in molecular biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Identification of cDNA-AFLP fragments associated with the B chromosome from different developmental stages of maize anthers.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Karyotype Variability in WildPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Supernumerary Marker Chromosome Identified in Asian Elephant (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. The r-X1 deletion induces terminal deficiencies in the maize B chromosome.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2021
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

R Neil JonesInstitute of Biological Sciences, The University of Wales Aberystwyth, UK. rnj@aber.ac.uk
Wanda Viegas
Andreas Houben
Centro de Genética Clínica · PTLeibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research · DEUniversity of Wales · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSupernumerary B chromosomes (Bs) are a major source of intraspecific variation in nuclear DNA amounts in numerous species of plants. They favour large genomes, and create polymorphisms for DNA variation in natural populations. By studying Bs we can gain useful knowledge about the organization, function and evolution of genomes. There are also significant biological questions concerning the origin and structural organization of Bs, and the way in which these selfish elements can establish themselves by exploiting the replicative machinery of their host genome nucleus. SCOPE: It is a sine qua non that Bs originate from the A chromosomes, in a variety of ways. We can study their modes of drive and ask how it is that chromosomes which apparently lack genes can have control over their own drive process which leads to their survival in natural populations. Molecular cytogenetic studies are opening up new avenues of investigation. Population equilibria for B frequencies are determined by a balance between accumulation and harmful effects. Bs are also subject to meiotic loss due to polysomy and to elimination at meiosis as univalents. These balancing forces can be seen in the context of host/parasite interaction, based on a dissection of the genetic elements in both As and Bs (in maize) which interact to bring about a stable equilibrium, at least for a snapshot in time.

conclusionsAside from their intrinsic enigmatic properties, B chromosomes make useful experimental tools to study genome organization. Thus far they have not been exploited for their applications, other than through the use of A-B translocations used for gene mapping in maize; but there are opportunities to use them to modulate the frequency and distribution of recombination, to diploidize allopolyploids, to study centromeres and to be developed as plant artificial chromosomes; given that they can be structurally modified and their inheritance stabilized.

Indexed as

Chromosomes, PlantDNA, PlantGenome, PlantPolymorphism, GeneticSpecies SpecificityDNA, Plant

Identifiers

PMID17704238
PMCPMC2710218
OpenAlexW2147952304

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.