CNN features genetic work of the Genographic Project's research in Lebanon

Genographic Project Principal Investigator Pierre Zalloua was recently featured on CNN's "Inside the Middle East" program. Pierre discusses the discoveries made by the Genographic team about the Phoenicians, the mysterious ancient maritime culture from the first millennium BCE.

FTDNA releases updated Haplogroup J2 tree

Family Tree DNA has updated their nomenclature for the various subclades of Haplogroup J2a. They have incorporated the new L24 and L25 SNP's which refer to rs35248080 and rs34534058 respectively. They have also updated the position of P279 above the deletion at DYS 413, which is represented by L26 (rs34126399). This update thus recognizes L24/L25, a sizeable branch of haplogroup J2 which previously was only identified by FTDNA as J2a (M410). However, they'll need to revise yet again, as research from Thomas Krahn seems to show some haplotypes are L24 positive or derived but L25 negative or ancestral. He has also identified a further SNP in these haplotypes which is being called L84. DNA fingerprint seems to show one of the more up to date Haplogroup J trees here . The DNA fingerprint tree is also more legible in part, since it references the SNP 's by name and not by a constantly evolving numbering system.

Haplogroup J in the Gulf of Oman

A paper from Cardenas et al 2008, Y-Chromosome diversity characterizes the Gulf of Oman, analyzes the Y Chromosome diversity for clues to the origins of present day peoples of this region. This part of the world has played a key role in many migratory episodes leaving Africa for Eurasia. Certainly Arabia served as a conduit for the first migrations out of Africa however, the data suggest that the during the Neolithic era, contact with the Levant and Mesopotamia contributed to the very high levels of Haplogroup J found in the Persian Gulf. Just north of the Persian Gulf lies the Fertile Crescent, stretching from Egypt in the West to Iraq in the East. This region is recognized as the birthplace of agriculture during the Neolithic period. While the region was fertile, ancient international trade existed for minerals and other resources. Archaelogical evidence in the form of Ubaid pottery, dated 7000yBP shows ancient contact between the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia and the Arabian Gulf. Clues from Y Chromosome data, such as the presence of E3b subclade M34 suggest ancient contact between Yemen and the Levant or Egypt. The presence of Haplogroup J2, M172 at frequencies over 10% in UAE could be an indication of migrations from Mesopotamia and/or the Levant.

By far the most frequent haplogroup throughout the Arabian Peninsula is Haplogroup J1 defined by SNP M267. In this study it was found at rates of 58% in Qatar, 72% in Yemen and 34% in UAE. M172 on the other hand was found at rates of 10.3% in UAE, 9.6% in Yemen and 8.4% in Qatar. The authors go on to conclude that the Neolithic period helped disperse Haplogroup J into the Arabian peninsula from the north. They also note the highest levels of diversity seem to emanate from the Persian Gulf coastal areas of UAE, Southern Iran, Oman and South Pakistan.

YCC J2a13 P279 likely resides above 413 deletion

The YCC Subclade J2a13 (ISOGG J2a1j) defined by the SNP P279 has been found derived in one FTDNA Haplogroup J project participant who's paternal line originates is Southern France. It is among the first examples of this very rare subclade found to date, and the result will also likely allow ISOGG researchers to more properly place this subclade on Y chromosome tree. The reason is that this participant carries values of 22 and 22 at DYS 413. This marker, DYS 413, in J2, is usually found with values at or near 17 and it is believed this deletion event represents a division of J2 which is likely now defined by SNP's L26 and L27 (L26=rs34126399). Thus, the P279 result shows that P279 is a branch of J2 which falls into the group that does not carry these SNP's, L26 and L27.

The participant only has one 1 step mismatch from Syria on public databases including YHRD, SMGF and Ysearch.

Evidence of a Cultural diffusion of agriculture in Southeast Europe

A recent paper by Battaglia et al, Y chromosomal evidence of the cultural diffusion of Agriculture in Southeast Europe, attempts to measure the impact of Neolithic farmers from the Middle East on Southeastern Europe to determine if these farming technologies were spread to Europe more through cultural contact or through migrations of Near Eastern peoples into Europe. The neolithic expansion into europe is a complex process likely involving multiple migrations and cultural diffusion over a period of time starting around 9000BC. In this study, Y Chromosome data was collected from 16 regions of South East Europe. The findings suggest that Haplogroup J2b-M241 correlates with the Neolithic period, has a different migration and origin from J2a-M410 and that J2b-M241 may have been involved in the process of admixture with Mesolithic peoples, thus being among the first peoples to introduce agriculture to Euorpe.

Levels of J2a-M410 were very low through the areas studied with little correlation of subclades. J2b frequencies showed a spike in Albania at 14.5% and was found in Greece and the Czech republic at rates of around 4%. The findings of the authors suggest that Haplogroups I and E-V13 were representative of Mesolithic peoples already present in the region who adopted the farming technologies introduced by near eastern farming colonists. From SE Europe where this cultural contact took place, agriculture then spread through Europe crossing the Adriatic into Italy.

Although southeast europe shows considerable archaeological evidence of the Neolithic transition, our Y-Chromosome results provide biological evidence of complexity in the transition to farming in terms of the contrasting influences of pioneering agriculturalists and Mesolithic foragers.

Y Chromosomes of Iberia reflect Sephardic and Moorish Origins?

A recent article in the American Journal of Human Genetics, The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal LIneages of Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula attempts to estimate the percentage of Sephardic Jewish and Moorish origins in the present day Iberian population. The results yielded very surprising figures; that upwards of 20% of Iberian Y Chromosomes are of Sephardic Jewish origin and 10% could be of Moorish origin. The history of Iberia certainly records the presence and impact of these 2 cultural groups on the peninsula. This article represents the first attempt using genetics to estimate levels of religious conversion that happened during the Spanish Inquisition period. The study included 1140 DNA samples from Iberia, representing a hugely informative look at the haplogroups of Spain and Portugal as well as long awaited data on the Sephardic Jewish communities mostly originating from Belmonte, Bulgaria, Djerba, and Turkey. The data itself shows that of the 14 haplogroups found in the Sephardic Jewish community, M172, Haplogroup J2 is the most frequent haplogroup overall, representing 25% of this population group. This was followed closely by M267, Haplogroup J1 which represented 22% of the total. In the Iberian Peninsula, M172, Haplogroup J2 was most frequent in the south, 15% in Southern Portugal, 14% in Western Andalusia and 12% in Extremadura. Interestingly, the Balaeric Islands showed lower levels of M172, Haplogroup J2 in Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza at 8, 3 and 4% respectively.

One glaring observation which might challenge the conclusions of the article is the ratio of J:J2 found in the Sephardic Jewish population compared to that of the Iberian population. This ratio is 0.88 (22% vs 25%) in the Separdich Jewish population but only 0.125 (1% vs 8%) in the Iberian Population. If one was to assume the converted Jewish population of Iberia contained a similar genetic makeup to present day Sephardic Jewish communities, looking at Haplogroup J1 as a defining marker, the amount of Sephardic ancestry could not exceed 5% since J1 makes up 22% of present day Sephardic Jews but was found in only 1% of Iberians. From this perspective, the articles conclusions of a 20% Sephardic Jewish ancestry seem lofty. The study's approach was to look at the genetic markers of the Basque population, Moroccan population and present day Sephardic Jewish population to represent Iberian, Moorish and Sephardic ancestry respectively. It then compared this data with that of the 1140 Iberian Y-Chromosomes from the study. Again, the study seems to largely discount the possible input of Phoenician or other near eastern populations as a source for the present day genetic makeup of the Iberian Y chromosome data assuming both Phoenician and Greek impact would be in the eastern parts of Iberia and not in the West where most Haplogroup J2 and J is found. The authors also note a good degree of Haplotype sharing (exact matches) at 3.6% between Sephardic Jewish haplotypes and Iberian Haplotypes. The study also notes the Sephardic sample which is taken from a small group of individuals would have been subject to Founder effect, bottlenecks and other factors which might reduce haplotype diversity.

Looking at the impact of the Moors, the study does provide good evidence linking E3b (M81) to a Moorish population originating in North Africa. The low diversity of this genetic marker comparing North African and Iberian M81 haplotypes supports a very recent common origin, likely brought to Iberia by the Islamic Moors, who controlled the Peninsula for 700 years.

Overall the study does a good job of a very difficult task in attempting to uncover the genetic history of Iberia and how its recent history has had a profound impact on its present day population which undoubtedly includes both Sephardic Jewish and Moorish origins.

Update on rs35248080

The SNP found in Haplogroup J2, rs35248080 should likely split the M410 branch of J2 into 2 large subgroups. Those positive for rs35248080 seem to include all or part of 2 J2 clusters referred to as J2a1h (ISOGG) also known as J2a-Lambda (J2 Y-DNA Project) as well as another cluster, pre-J2a1h (Haplogroup J project) or J2a-Beta (J2 Y-DNA Project). Thus far haplotypes which are M67+ are negative for the SNP rs35248080, haplotypes in J2a that do not carry the deletion at DYS 413 are also negative. Participants in J2b are also negative. Haplotypes which carry a distintive 9 repeats at DYS 450 as well as 6 or 10 repeats at DYS 445 which define J2a1h/J2a-Lambda and pre-J2a1h/J2a-Beta respectively have tested positive for the new SNP. Testing is ongoing.