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.

中文翻译：

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用高级方法解决长期存在的问题：第四届 B 染色体会议

B 染色体 (Bs) 是在不同真核生物中广泛表征的神秘辅助基因组元素。自 20 世纪初被发现以来，B 染色体一直是世界各地实验室研究的主题。因此，科学会议已经处理了 B 染色体，包括该领域最具体和最重要的会议，“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机会。B 染色体科学已经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协议的最新进展使 Bs 成为海量数据分析的主题，从而能够研究以前未考虑的结构和功能问题。尽管取得了广泛的进展，但仍有一些问题有待回答。基于 RNA、表观遗传学和基因本体的功能研究的进展为更好地理解 B 染色体的复杂生物学打开了视野。