Introduction

yDNA Haplogroups are based on SNPs, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, that occur in the non recombining region of the y-Chromosome. These rare events mark major branching points in the yDNA tree. The Haplogroups mark the main splits. Hapogroup clades and subclades designate the smaller branches. Haplogroup Q is one of two clades within the mega-Haplogroup P. Q is defined by the SNP M242. This mutation is believed to have occurred 15,000 - 20,000 years ago. Haplogroup Q is found in Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East.

On May 5, 2008 Karafet 2008 was published in Genome Research. In a collaborative effort, the known SNPs from the YCC 2002 Tree and those that had been discovered in the ensuing six years were retested. The paper documented the exhaustive testing of samples from around the world. It then correctly placed them on the tree.

Karafet 2008, ” Clade Q

Clade Q is defined by the M242 mutation (Supplemental Fig. 15). Within this clade, there are 13 haplogroups marked by 17 SNPs, as well as an unmarked paragroup (Q*). Haplogroup Q is distributed widely in North Eurasia and is found at high frequencies in some Siberian groups (Karafet et al. 2002) and at low frequencies in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. It is also the major lineage among the Native Americans, with Q-M3 (Q1a3a) being almost completely restricted to the Americas (Zegura et al. 2004). Undifferentiated paragroup Q* is observed at low frequencies in India and Pakistan.

Major rearrangements

The M242 mutation is positioned upstream of P36.2. MEH2 was not typed in a set of our samples; however, there is evidence that MEH2 is a subset of the Q-P36.2 haplogroup (Peter de Knijff, pers. comm.)

This rolled out the new YCC 2008 Q Tree, YCC, which Family Tree DNA has adopted. The new tree has brought many changes to Q. But many of the SNPs described in Karafet 2008 have not been studied enough to place them geographically.

yDNA population papers have focused on geographic locations or ethnic groups. Both, SNPs and STR data has been used to distinguish deep ancestral populations.

Genealogical Surname group studies have focused on a common Surname and its etymological branches to trace common ancestry. The scattered population of Haplogroup Q and its subclades across multiple geographic boundaries and ethnic histories invites exploration of it as a whole.

This project investigates the origins of Haplogroup Q. Because many papers only use STRs, the project examines marker frequencies that can be used to predict Haplogroup membership. The connections between groups are shown with genetic distance reports and Network Diagrams.

To help members understand their geographic origins Maps will be used as well as individual pedigrees.