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Haplogroup A (Y-DNA)
Encyclopedia
In human genetics
, Haplogroup A refers to a group of y-chromosome lineages that were among the first to branch off from the root of the human y-chromosome phylogeny
. The mutations that define Haplogroup A would have occurred in the y-chromosomes of some of the earliest descendants of Y-chromosomal Adam
, including at least one of his two sons.
Haplogroup A is largely restricted to parts of Africa
, though a handful of cases have been reported in Europe
and Western Asia. The clade achieves its highest modern frequencies in the Bushmen
hunter-gatherer
populations of Southern Africa
, followed closely by many Nilotic
groups in Eastern Africa. However, haplogroup A's oldest sub-clades are exclusively found in Central
-Northwest Africa
, where it, and consequently Y-chromosomal Adam, is believed to have originated about 140,000 years ago. The clade has also been observed at notable frequencies in certain populations in Ethiopia
, as well as some Pygmy
groups in Central Africa.
Haplogroup A is less common among Niger–Congo
speakers, who largely belong to the E1b1a clade. Haplogroup E
in general is believed to have originated in Northeast Africa, and was later introduced to West Africa
from where it spread around 5,000 years ago to Central, Southern and Southeastern Africa with the Bantu expansion
. According to Wood et al. (2005) and Rosa et al. (2007), such relatively recent population movements from West Africa changed the pre-existing population Y chromosomal diversity in Central, Southern and Southeastern Africa, replacing the previous haplogroups in these areas with the now dominant E1b1a lineages. Traces of ancestral inhabitants, however, can be observed today in these regions via the presence of the Y DNA haplogroups A-M91 and B-M60
that are common in certain relict populations, such as the Mbuti
Pygmies and the Khoisan
.
. However, it is now known that deepest split in the Y-chromosome tree is found between two previously reported subclades of Haplogroup A, rather than between Haplogroup A and Haplogroup BT. Subclades A1b and A1a-T now descend directly from the root of the tree. The rearrangement of the Y-chromosome family tree implies that lineages classified as Haplogroup A do not necessarily form a monophyletic clade. Haplogroup A therefore refers to a collection of lineages that do not possess the markers that define Haplogroup BT, though many lineages within haplogroup A are only very distantly related.
The M91 and P97 mutations distinguish Haplogroup A from Haplogroup BT
. Within Haplogroup A chromosomes, the M91 marker consists of a stretch of 8 T nucleobase
units. In Haplogroup BT and chimpanzee chromosomes, this marker consists of 9 T nucleobase
units. This pattern suggested that the 9T stretch of Haplogroup BT was the ancestral version and that Haplogroup A was formed by the deletion of one nucleobase
.
But according to Cruciani et al. 2011, the region surrounding the M91 marker is a mutational hotspot prone to recurrent mutations. It is therefore possible that the 8T stretch of Haplogroup A may be the ancestral state of M91 and the 9T of Haplogroup BT
may be the derived state that arose by an insertion
of 1T. This would explain why subclades A1b and A1a-T, the deepest branches of Haplogroup A, both possess the 8T stretch. Furthermore Cruciani et al. 2011 determined that the P97 marker, which is also used to identify haplogroup A, possessed the ancestral state in haplogroup A but the derived state in Haplogroup BT
.
Many proposals for haplogroup A's origin suggest it was associated with the ancestral population of Southern Africa's hunter-gatherers. This is because Haplogroup A lineages are frequent among the San people. In addition, the most basal mitochondrial DNA lineages are also largely restricted to the San.
However the A lineages of Southern Africa are sub-clades of A lineages found in other parts of Africa. This suggests that A lineages arrived in Southern Africa from elsewhere. The two most basal lineages of Haplogroup A, A1b and A1a, have been detected in West Africa, Northwest Africa and Central Africa. Cruciani et al. suggest that these lineages may have emerged somewhere in between Central and Northwest Africa, though such an interpretation is still preliminary due to the incomplete geographic coverage of African y-chromosomes.
Initial studies reported that Haplogroup A lineages emerged around 60,000 years ago which was significantly more recent than TMRCA for mitochondrial DNA lineages which coalesce to between 150-200kya. But Cruciani et al. 2011 pushed back the root of the Y-chromosome tree to 142,000 years ago.
of Southern Africa, Beta Israel
, and Nilo-Saharans from Sudan.
, 4/28 = 14% Mandara, 2/17 = 12% Fulbe) and eastern DRC
(2/9 = 22% Alur
, 1/18 = 6% Hema
, 1/47 = 2% Mbuti
).
Haplogroup A-M91(xA1a-M31, A2-M6/M14/P3/P4, A3-M32) has been observed in the Bakola people of southern Cameroon (3/33 = 9%).
Without testing for any subclade, haplogroup A Y-DNA has been observed in samples of several populations of Gabon
, including 9% (3/33) of a sample of Baka, 3% (1/36) of a sample of Ndumu, 2% (1/46) of a sample of Duma, 2% (1/57) of a sample of Nzebi, and 2% (1/60) of a sample of Tsogo.
sample, 10.3% (8/78) of an Oromo
sample, 13.6% (12/88) of another sample from Ethiopia, and 41% of a sample of the Beta Israel
(Cruciani et al. 2002), and important percentages are also shared by Bantus in Kenya (14%, Luis et al. 2004) and Iraqw
in Tanzania (3/43 = 7.0% (Luis et al. 2004) to 1/6 = 17% (Knight et al. 2003)).
males.
-speaking tribes with frequency ranging from 10% to 70%. Surprisingly, this particular haplogroup was not found in a sample of the Hadzabe
from Tanzania, a population traditionally considered an ancient remnant of Khoisans due to the presence of click consonant
s in their language.
on the Aegean island of Lesvos and in samples of Portuguese from southern Portugal, central Portugal, and Madeira. The authors of one study have reported finding what appears to be haplogroup A in 3.1% (2/65) of a sample of Cypriot
s, though they have not definitively excluded the possibility that either of these individuals may belong to haplogroup B or haplogroup C.
, England
sharing a distinctive surname were identified as being from the A2-T subgroup of haplogroup A. It was discovered that these men had a common male-line ancestor from the 18th century, but no previous information about African ancestry was known. The A-P108 subgroup is extremely rare. In addition to the seven Yorkshire men, only 25 living carriers of the A-P108 subgroup are known, all of West African ancestry.News article:
) at 8.3% and Berbers from Algeria
at 1.5%.
, especially among the Papel-Manjaco-Mancanha
(5/64 = 7.8%). In an earlier study published in 2003, Gonçalves et al. have reported finding A1a-M31 in 5.1% (14/276) of a sample from Guinea-Bissau and in 0.5% (1/201) of a pair of samples from Cabo Verde. The authors of another study have reported finding haplogroup A1a-M31 in 5% (2/39) of a sample of Mandinka
from Senegambia and 2% (1/55) of a sample of Dogon
from Mali
. Haplogroup A1a-M31 also has been found in 3% (2/64) of a sample of Berbers
from Morocco
and 2.3% (1/44) of a sample of unspecified ethnic affiliation from Mali
.
/Sekele, and haplogroup A2b-P28 in 17% (5/29) of a sample of Tsumkwe San, 9% (3/32) of a sample of !Kung
/Sekele, 9% (1/11) of a sample of Nama, and 6% (1/18) of a sample of Dama
. The authors of another study have reported finding haplogroup A2 in 15.4% (6/39) of a sample of Khoisan males, including 5/39 A2-M6/M14/M23/M29/M49/M71/M135/M141(xA2a-M114) and 1/39 A2a-M114.
.
. In 5% (1/20) of a mixed sample of speakers of South Semitic languages from Ethiopia, 1.1% (1/88) of a sample of Ethiopians, and 0.5% (1/201) in Somalis.
/Sekele, 6/29 = 21% Tsumkwe San, 1/18 = 6% Dama). However, it also has been found with lower frequency among Bantu peoples of Southern Africa
, including 2/28 = 7% Sotho–Tswana, 3/53 = 6% non-Khoisan Southern Africans, 4/80 = 5% Xhosa, and 1/29 = 3% Zulu.
In Sudan
, haplogroup A3b2-M13 has been found in 28/53 = 52.8% of Southern Sudanese, 13/28 = 46.4% of the Nuba
of central Sudan, 25/90 = 27.8% of Western Sudanese
, 4/32 = 12.5% of local Hausa people
, and 5/216 = 2.3% of Northern Sudanese.
In Ethiopia
, one study has reported finding haplogroup A3b2-M13 in 14.6% (7/48) of a sample of Amhara
and 10.3% (8/78) of a sample of Oromo
. Another study has reported finding haplogroup A3b2b-M118 in 6.8% (6/88) and haplogroup A3b2*-M13(xA3b2a-M171, A3b2b-M118) in 5.7% (5/88) of a mixed sample of Ethiopians, amounting to a total of 12.5% (11/88) A3b2-M13.
Haplogroup A3b2 also has been observed occasionally outside of Central and Eastern Africa, as in the Aegean Region
of Turkey
(2/30 = 6.7%), Yemenite Jews
(1/20 = 5%), Egypt
(4/147 = 2.7%, 3/92 = 3.3%), Palestinian Arabs
(2/143 = 1.4%), Sardinia
(1/77 = 1.3%, 1/22 = 4.5%), the capital of Jordan
, Amman
(1/101=1%), and Oman
(1/121 = 0.8%).
Y-chromosomal Adam
Human genetics
Human genetics describes the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population genetics, developmental genetics, clinical genetics,...
, Haplogroup A refers to a group of y-chromosome lineages that were among the first to branch off from the root of the human y-chromosome phylogeny
Y-chromosomal Adam
In human genetics, Y-chromosomal Adam is the theoretical most recent common ancestor from whom all living people are descended patrilineally . Many studies report that Y-chromosomal Adam lived as early as around 142,000 years ago and possibly as recently as 60,000 years ago...
. The mutations that define Haplogroup A would have occurred in the y-chromosomes of some of the earliest descendants of Y-chromosomal Adam
Y-chromosomal Adam
In human genetics, Y-chromosomal Adam is the theoretical most recent common ancestor from whom all living people are descended patrilineally . Many studies report that Y-chromosomal Adam lived as early as around 142,000 years ago and possibly as recently as 60,000 years ago...
, including at least one of his two sons.
Haplogroup A is largely restricted to parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, though a handful of cases have been reported in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Western Asia. The clade achieves its highest modern frequencies in the Bushmen
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
populations of Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
, followed closely by many Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
groups in Eastern Africa. However, haplogroup A's oldest sub-clades are exclusively found in Central
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
-Northwest Africa
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
, where it, and consequently Y-chromosomal Adam, is believed to have originated about 140,000 years ago. The clade has also been observed at notable frequencies in certain populations in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, as well as some Pygmy
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
groups in Central Africa.
Haplogroup A is less common among Niger–Congo
Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
speakers, who largely belong to the E1b1a clade. Haplogroup E
Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup E is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. Haplogroup E is one of the two main branches of the older Haplogroup DE, the other main branch being haplogroup D. The E clade is divided into two subclades: E1 and E2 .-Origins:Underhill et al. proposed that haplogroup E...
in general is believed to have originated in Northeast Africa, and was later introduced to West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
from where it spread around 5,000 years ago to Central, Southern and Southeastern Africa with the Bantu expansion
Bantu expansion
The Bantu expansion or the Bantu Migration was a millennia-long series of migrations of speakers of the original proto-Bantu language group...
. According to Wood et al. (2005) and Rosa et al. (2007), such relatively recent population movements from West Africa changed the pre-existing population Y chromosomal diversity in Central, Southern and Southeastern Africa, replacing the previous haplogroups in these areas with the now dominant E1b1a lineages. Traces of ancestral inhabitants, however, can be observed today in these regions via the presence of the Y DNA haplogroups A-M91 and B-M60
Haplogroup B (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup B is a Y-chromosome haplogroup.-Distribution:Haplogroup B is localized to sub-Saharan Africa, especially to tropical forests of West-Central Africa. After Y-haplogroup A, it is the second oldest and one of the most diverse human Y-haplogroups...
that are common in certain relict populations, such as the Mbuti
Mbuti
Mbuti or Bambuti are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages belong to the Central Sudanic and also to Bantu languages.-Overview:...
Pygmies and the Khoisan
Khoisan
Khoisan is a unifying name for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San and the pastoral Khoi...
.
Phylogeny
Initial sequencing of the human y-chromosome suggested that first split in the y-chromosome family tree occurred with the M91 mutation that separated Haplogroup A from Haplogroup BTHaplogroup BT (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup BT is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. The notation BT refers to the derived set of haplogroups between B and T which forms its own cladistic set....
. However, it is now known that deepest split in the Y-chromosome tree is found between two previously reported subclades of Haplogroup A, rather than between Haplogroup A and Haplogroup BT. Subclades A1b and A1a-T now descend directly from the root of the tree. The rearrangement of the Y-chromosome family tree implies that lineages classified as Haplogroup A do not necessarily form a monophyletic clade. Haplogroup A therefore refers to a collection of lineages that do not possess the markers that define Haplogroup BT, though many lineages within haplogroup A are only very distantly related.
The M91 and P97 mutations distinguish Haplogroup A from Haplogroup BT
Haplogroup BT (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup BT is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. The notation BT refers to the derived set of haplogroups between B and T which forms its own cladistic set....
. Within Haplogroup A chromosomes, the M91 marker consists of a stretch of 8 T nucleobase
Thymine
Thymine is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine nucleobase. As the name suggests, thymine may be derived by methylation of uracil at...
units. In Haplogroup BT and chimpanzee chromosomes, this marker consists of 9 T nucleobase
Thymine
Thymine is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine nucleobase. As the name suggests, thymine may be derived by methylation of uracil at...
units. This pattern suggested that the 9T stretch of Haplogroup BT was the ancestral version and that Haplogroup A was formed by the deletion of one nucleobase
Nucleobase
Nucleobases are a group of nitrogen-based molecules that are required to form nucleotides, the basic building blocks of DNA and RNA. Nucleobases provide the molecular structure necessary for the hydrogen bonding of complementary DNA and RNA strands, and are key components in the formation of stable...
.
But according to Cruciani et al. 2011, the region surrounding the M91 marker is a mutational hotspot prone to recurrent mutations. It is therefore possible that the 8T stretch of Haplogroup A may be the ancestral state of M91 and the 9T of Haplogroup BT
Haplogroup BT (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup BT is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. The notation BT refers to the derived set of haplogroups between B and T which forms its own cladistic set....
may be the derived state that arose by an insertion
Insertion (genetics)
In genetics, an insertion is the addition of one or more nucleotide base pairs into a DNA sequence. This can often happen in microsatellite regions due to the DNA polymerase slipping...
of 1T. This would explain why subclades A1b and A1a-T, the deepest branches of Haplogroup A, both possess the 8T stretch. Furthermore Cruciani et al. 2011 determined that the P97 marker, which is also used to identify haplogroup A, possessed the ancestral state in haplogroup A but the derived state in Haplogroup BT
Haplogroup BT (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup BT is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. The notation BT refers to the derived set of haplogroups between B and T which forms its own cladistic set....
.
Origin
However the A lineages of Southern Africa are sub-clades of A lineages found in other parts of Africa. This suggests that A lineages arrived in Southern Africa from elsewhere. The two most basal lineages of Haplogroup A, A1b and A1a, have been detected in West Africa, Northwest Africa and Central Africa. Cruciani et al. suggest that these lineages may have emerged somewhere in between Central and Northwest Africa, though such an interpretation is still preliminary due to the incomplete geographic coverage of African y-chromosomes.
Initial studies reported that Haplogroup A lineages emerged around 60,000 years ago which was significantly more recent than TMRCA for mitochondrial DNA lineages which coalesce to between 150-200kya. But Cruciani et al. 2011 pushed back the root of the Y-chromosome tree to 142,000 years ago.
Distribution
In a composite sample of 3551 African men, Haplogroup A had a frequency of 5.4%. The highest frequencies of haplogroup A have been reported among the KhoisanKhoisan
Khoisan is a unifying name for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San and the pastoral Khoi...
of Southern Africa, Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
, and Nilo-Saharans from Sudan.
Africa —Central
Haplogroup A3b2-M13 has been observed in populations of northern Cameroon (2/9 = 22% TupuriTupuri
Tupuri or Toupouri may refer to:* The Tupuri people of Cameroon and Chad* The Tupuri language, spoken by that people* Lake Tupuri in Cameroon...
, 4/28 = 14% Mandara, 2/17 = 12% Fulbe) and eastern DRC
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(2/9 = 22% Alur
Alur people
Alur are an ethnic group who live mainly in the Nebbi, Zombo, and Arua districts in northwestern Uganda, but also in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north of Lake Albert. They are part of the larger Luo group, and their language is closely related to Acholi...
, 1/18 = 6% Hema
Hema people
The Hema, or Hima, are an ethnic group with about 160,000 members located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Ituri region and Orientale province, as well as parts of Uganda and Rwanda...
, 1/47 = 2% Mbuti
Mbuti
Mbuti or Bambuti are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages belong to the Central Sudanic and also to Bantu languages.-Overview:...
).
Haplogroup A-M91(xA1a-M31, A2-M6/M14/P3/P4, A3-M32) has been observed in the Bakola people of southern Cameroon (3/33 = 9%).
Without testing for any subclade, haplogroup A Y-DNA has been observed in samples of several populations of Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, including 9% (3/33) of a sample of Baka, 3% (1/36) of a sample of Ndumu, 2% (1/46) of a sample of Duma, 2% (1/57) of a sample of Nzebi, and 2% (1/60) of a sample of Tsogo.
Africa —Eastern
Haplogroup A3b2-M13 is common among the Southern Sudanese (53%), especially the Dinka Sudanese (61.5%). Haplogroup A3b2-M13 also has been observed in another sample of a South Sudanese population at a frequency of 45% (18/40), including 1/40 A3b2a-M171. Haplogroup A also has been reported in 14.6% (7/48) of an AmharaAmhara people
Amhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
sample, 10.3% (8/78) of an Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
sample, 13.6% (12/88) of another sample from Ethiopia, and 41% of a sample of the Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
(Cruciani et al. 2002), and important percentages are also shared by Bantus in Kenya (14%, Luis et al. 2004) and Iraqw
Iraqw
The Iraqw, known as the Mbulu in Swahili, are a Cushitic people of the Arusha and Manyara Regions of north-central Tanzania, near the Rift Valley wall and south of Ngorongoro Crater...
in Tanzania (3/43 = 7.0% (Luis et al. 2004) to 1/6 = 17% (Knight et al. 2003)).
Africa —Northern
The subclade A1 has been observed in Moroccan Berbers, while the subclade A3b2 has been observed in approximately 3% of EgyptianEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
males.
Africa —Southern
One study has found haplogroup A in samples of various KhoisanKhoisan languages
The Khoisan languages are the click languages of Africa which do not belong to other language families. They include languages indigenous to southern and eastern Africa, though some, such as the Khoi languages, appear to have moved to their current locations not long before the Bantu expansion...
-speaking tribes with frequency ranging from 10% to 70%. Surprisingly, this particular haplogroup was not found in a sample of the Hadzabe
Hadzabe
The Hadza, or Hadzabe, are an ethnic group in north-central Tanzania, living around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau. The Hadza number just under 1000...
from Tanzania, a population traditionally considered an ancient remnant of Khoisans due to the presence of click consonant
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s in their language.
Eurasia
Haplogroup A has been observed as A1 in European men in England. As A3b2, it has been observed with low frequency in Asia Minor, the Middle East, and some Mediterranean islands, among Aegean Turks, Sardinians, Palestinians, Jordanians, Yemenites, and Omanis. Without testing for any subclade, haplogroup A has been observed in a sample of Greeks from MitiliniMytilene
Mytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
on the Aegean island of Lesvos and in samples of Portuguese from southern Portugal, central Portugal, and Madeira. The authors of one study have reported finding what appears to be haplogroup A in 3.1% (2/65) of a sample of Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
s, though they have not definitively excluded the possibility that either of these individuals may belong to haplogroup B or haplogroup C.
Subclades
A2-T- P108
In 2007, seven men from YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sharing a distinctive surname were identified as being from the A2-T subgroup of haplogroup A. It was discovered that these men had a common male-line ancestor from the 18th century, but no previous information about African ancestry was known. The A-P108 subgroup is extremely rare. In addition to the seven Yorkshire men, only 25 living carriers of the A-P108 subgroup are known, all of West African ancestry.News article:
A1b-V164
Found only in Bakola Pygmies (South CameroonCameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
) at 8.3% and Berbers from Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
at 1.5%.
A1a-M31
The subclade A1a-M31 has been found in approximately 2.8% (8/282) of a pool of seven samples of various ethnic groups in Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
, especially among the Papel-Manjaco-Mancanha
Mankanya language
The Mankanya language is spoken by approximately 70,000 people in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Gambia primarily belonging to the ethnic group of the same name. It belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family....
(5/64 = 7.8%). In an earlier study published in 2003, Gonçalves et al. have reported finding A1a-M31 in 5.1% (14/276) of a sample from Guinea-Bissau and in 0.5% (1/201) of a pair of samples from Cabo Verde. The authors of another study have reported finding haplogroup A1a-M31 in 5% (2/39) of a sample of Mandinka
Mandinka people
The Mandinka, Malinke are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa with an estimated population of eleven million ....
from Senegambia and 2% (1/55) of a sample of Dogon
Dogon people
The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000 The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and...
from Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. Haplogroup A1a-M31 also has been found in 3% (2/64) of a sample of Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and 2.3% (1/44) of a sample of unspecified ethnic affiliation from Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
.
A2-M6
This subclade of haplogroup A is typically found among Khoisan peoples. The authors of one study have reported finding haplogroup A2-M6(xA2b-P28) in 28% (8/29) of a sample of Tsumkwe San and 16% (5/32) of a sample of !Kung!Kung people
The ǃKung, also spelled ǃXun, are a Bushman people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana and in Angola. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonants, generally classified as part of the Khoisan language family...
/Sekele, and haplogroup A2b-P28 in 17% (5/29) of a sample of Tsumkwe San, 9% (3/32) of a sample of !Kung
!Kung people
The ǃKung, also spelled ǃXun, are a Bushman people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana and in Angola. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonants, generally classified as part of the Khoisan language family...
/Sekele, 9% (1/11) of a sample of Nama, and 6% (1/18) of a sample of Dama
Damara people
The Damara are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia's population...
. The authors of another study have reported finding haplogroup A2 in 15.4% (6/39) of a sample of Khoisan males, including 5/39 A2-M6/M14/M23/M29/M49/M71/M135/M141(xA2a-M114) and 1/39 A2a-M114.
A3-M32
This clade contains the most populous branches of haplogroup A and is mainly found in Eastern Africa and Southern AfricaSouthern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
.
A3a-M28
This subclade of haplogroup A3 has only been rarely observed in the Horn of AfricaHorn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
. In 5% (1/20) of a mixed sample of speakers of South Semitic languages from Ethiopia, 1.1% (1/88) of a sample of Ethiopians, and 0.5% (1/201) in Somalis.
A3b1-M51
This subclade of haplogroup A3 occurs most frequently among Khoisan peoples (6/11 = 55% Nama, 11/39 = 28% Khoisan, 7/32 = 22% !Kung!Kung people
The ǃKung, also spelled ǃXun, are a Bushman people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana and in Angola. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonants, generally classified as part of the Khoisan language family...
/Sekele, 6/29 = 21% Tsumkwe San, 1/18 = 6% Dama). However, it also has been found with lower frequency among Bantu peoples of Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
, including 2/28 = 7% Sotho–Tswana, 3/53 = 6% non-Khoisan Southern Africans, 4/80 = 5% Xhosa, and 1/29 = 3% Zulu.
A3b2-M13
The subclade of haplogroup A3 that is commonly found in East Africa and northern Cameroon (A3b2-M13) is different from those found in the Khoisan samples and only remotely related to them (it is actually only one of many subclades within haplogroup A). This finding suggests an ancient divergence.In Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, haplogroup A3b2-M13 has been found in 28/53 = 52.8% of Southern Sudanese, 13/28 = 46.4% of the Nuba
Nuba
Nuba is a collective term used here for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they composed a single group, the Nuba are multiple distinct peoples and speak different languages...
of central Sudan, 25/90 = 27.8% of Western Sudanese
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, 4/32 = 12.5% of local Hausa people
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
, and 5/216 = 2.3% of Northern Sudanese.
In Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, one study has reported finding haplogroup A3b2-M13 in 14.6% (7/48) of a sample of Amhara
Amhara people
Amhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
and 10.3% (8/78) of a sample of Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
. Another study has reported finding haplogroup A3b2b-M118 in 6.8% (6/88) and haplogroup A3b2*-M13(xA3b2a-M171, A3b2b-M118) in 5.7% (5/88) of a mixed sample of Ethiopians, amounting to a total of 12.5% (11/88) A3b2-M13.
Haplogroup A3b2 also has been observed occasionally outside of Central and Eastern Africa, as in the Aegean Region
Aegean Region
Aegean Region , is one of the 7 census-defined regions of Turkey, and in Western Asia.It is located in the west part of the country: bounded by Aegean Sea on the west; Marmara Region on the north;...
of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(2/30 = 6.7%), Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
(1/20 = 5%), Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
(4/147 = 2.7%, 3/92 = 3.3%), Palestinian Arabs
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
(2/143 = 1.4%), Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
(1/77 = 1.3%, 1/22 = 4.5%), the capital of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
(1/101=1%), and Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
(1/121 = 0.8%).
Tree
This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup subclades is based on the Y-Chromosome Consortium (YCC) Tree, the ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree, and subsequent published research.Y-chromosomal Adam
- A1b (V148, V149, V150, V151, V152, V13, V154, V157, V158, V159, V161, V162, V163, V164, V165, V166, V167, V169, V170, V172, V173, V176, V177, V181, V190, V195, V196, V223, V229, V233, V239)
- A1a-T (V168, V171, V174, V203, V238, V241, V250)
- A1a (M31, P82, V4, V14, V15, V25, V26, V28, V30, V40, V48, V53, V57, V58, V63, V76, V191, V201, V204, V214, V215, V236)
- A2-T (P108, V221)
- A2 (M6, M14, M23, M29/P3/PN3, M49/Page41, M71, M135, M141, M196, M206, M212, M276/P247, M277/P248, MEH1, P4, P5, P36.1, Page52, Page71, Page87, V50)
- A2a (M114)
- A2b (P28)
- A2c (P262)
- A3 (V1, Page77/V10, V51, V56, V66, V67, V89, V98, V155, V156, V160, V193, V194, V230, V243)
- A3a (M28, M59)
- A3b (M144, M190/Page35, M220, P289, Page50)
- A3b1 (M51/Page42, P100, P291)
- A3b1a (P71, P102)
- A3b2 (M13, M127, M202, M219, M305/Page17, Page53)
- A3b2a (M171)
- A3b2b (M118)
- A3b1 (M51/Page42, P100, P291)
- BT (M42, M94, M139, M299, M60, M181/Page32, P85, P90, P97, Page65.1/SRY1532.1/SRY10831.1, V21, V29, V31, V59, V64, V102, V187, V202, V216, V235)
- A2 (M6, M14, M23, M29/P3/PN3, M49/Page41, M71, M135, M141, M196, M206, M212, M276/P247, M277/P248, MEH1, P4, P5, P36.1, Page52, Page71, Page87, V50)
See also
- General
- HaplogroupHaplogroupIn the study of molecular evolution, a haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor having the same single nucleotide polymorphism mutation in both haplotypes. Because a haplogroup consists of similar haplotypes, this is what makes it possible to predict a haplogroup...
- Genetic GenealogyGenetic genealogyGenetic genealogy is the application of genetics to traditional genealogy. Genetic genealogy involves the use of genealogical DNA testing to determine the level of genetic relationship between individuals.-History:...
- Haplogroup
- Y-chromosome Genetics
- Conversion table for Y chromosome haplogroupsConversion table for Y chromosome haplogroupsY chromosome haplogroups are a frequent topic of discussion in human population genetics and genetic genealogy. Men in the same Y DNA haplogroup share a set of differences, or markers, on their Y chromosome, which distinguish them from men in other haplogroups. Often these UEPs, or markers used to...
- Conversion table for Y chromosome haplogroups
External links
- African Haplogroup project at FTDNA
- Spread of Haplogroup A, from National Geographic