Possible time of origin 12,000 years BP Defining mutations M124, P249, P267, L266 | Ancestor R-M479 | |
Possible place of origin South Asia or Central Asia Descendants R-M124*, R-L295, R-L263, R-L1069 | ||
Haplogroup R2a, or haplogroup R-M124, is a Y-chromosome haplogroup characterized by genetic markers M124, P249, P267, L266, and is mainly found in South Asia, parts of Central and West Asia.
Contents
Term history
Haplogoup R2a is also known as haplogroup R-M124. The first reference to the newly defined haplogroup, "R-M124", was on the 25th of August 2010.
Before the publication of the 2005 Y-Chromosome Phylogenetic Tree, Haplogroup R-M124 was known as Haplogroup P1 and formerly thought to be a sister clade of Haplogroup R rather than derived from it.
At least 90% of R-M124 individuals are located in the Indian sub-continent. It is also reported in Caucasus and Central Asia at lower frequency..
Origins
According to Sengupta et al. (2006),
uncertainty neutralizes previous conclusions that the intrusion of HGs R1a1 and R2 [Now R-M124] from the northwest in Dravidian-speaking southern tribes is attributable to a single recent event. Rather, these HGs contain considerable demographic complexity, as implied by their high haplotype diversity. Specifically, they could have actually arrived in southern India from a southwestern Asian source region multiple times, with some episodes considerably earlier than others.
Paragroup R-M124*
Paragroup is a term used in population genetics to describe lineages within a haplogroup that are not defined by any additional unique markers. They are typically represented by an asterisk (*) placed after the main haplogroup.
Y-chromosomes which are positive to the M124, P249, P267, and L266 SNPs and negative to the L295, L263, and L1069 SNPs, are categorized as belonging to Paragroup R-M124*.
Haplogroup R-L295
Haplogroup R-L295 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup characterized by genetic marker L295. It is found in South Asia, Anatolia, Arabian Peninsula, Europe, & Central Asia so far.
Haplogroup R-L263
Haplogroup R-L263 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup characterized by genetic marker L263. It is found in Greek Asia Minor & Armenia so far.
Haplogroup R-L1069
Haplogroup R-L1069 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup characterized by genetic marker L1069. It is found in Kuwait so far.
Distribution
At least 90% of R-M124 individuals are located in the Indian sub-continent. It is also reported in Caucasus and Central Asia.
Haplogroup R-M124, along with haplogroups H, L, R1a1, and J2, forms the majority of the South Asian male population. The frequency is around 10-15% in India and Sri Lanka and 7-8% in Pakistan. Its spread within South Asia is very extensive, ranging from Baluchistan in the west to Bengal in the east; Hunza in the north to Sri Lanka in the south.
North Indian Muslims have a frequency of 11% (Sunni) and 9% (Shia), while Dawoodi Bohra Muslim in the western state of Gujarat have a frequency of 16% and Mappla Muslims of South India have a frequency of 5%. The R-M124 haplogroup is also found in 14% of the Burusho people who speak the language isolate called Burushaski.
Some of the other studies like Bamshad et al., 2001, Kivisild et al., 2003 found Haplogroup 1(the old representation for non-R1a1 Haplogroup R subclades) at around 40% among Telugus of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The identification of this Haplogroup with R-M124 is confirmed from Sanghamitra Sahoo et al., 2006 study which observed R-M124 ranging from 35% to 55% among non-Brahmin castes of this region.
Haplogroup R-M124 comprises 53% of Y-chromosomes among Sinti, a subgroup of the Romani people living in Germany who were relocated to Central Asia, however the sample size was only 15 individuals. This Romani branch has its ancient roots in India.
Central Asia
In Central Asia, Tajikistan shows Haplogroup R-M124 at 6%, while the other '-stan' states vary around 2%. Bartangis of Tajikistan have a high frequency of R-M124 at about 17%, Ishkashimi at 8%, Khojant at 9% and Dushanbe at 6%.
Specifically, Haplogroup R-M124 has been found in approximately 7.5% (4/53) of recent Iranian emigrants living in Samarkand, 7.1% (7/99) of Pamiris, 6.8% (3/44) of Karakalpaks, 5.1% (4/78) of Tajiks, 5% (2/40) of Dungans in Kyrgyzstan, 3.3% (1/30) of Turkmens, 2.2% (8/366) of Uzbeks, and 1.9% (1/54) of Kazakhs.
West Asia
The haplogroup R-M124 frequency of %6.1 was found among Kurds.
An R-M124 frequency of 15.8% was observed among Chechens. R-M124 has been found in approximately 8% (2/24) of a sample of Ossetians from Alagir.
In the Caucasus, around 16% of Mountain Jews, 8% of Balkarians, 6% of Kalmyks, 3% of Azerbaijanis, 2.6% of Kumyks, 2.4% of Avars, 2% of Armenians, and 1% to 6% of Georgians belong to the R-M124 haplogroup. Approximately 1% of Turks and 1% to 3% of Iranians also belong to this haplogroup.
In the R2-M124-WTY and R-Arabia Y-DNA Projects, Haplogroup R-M124 has appeared in the following Arab countries: Kuwait (3 clusters), United Arab Emirates (1 cluster), Syrian Arab Republic (1 cluster), and Tunisia (1 cluster).
Thus, Haplogroup R-M124 has been observed among Arabs at low frequencies in 11 countries/territories (Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) of the 22 Arab countries/territories so far.
Position on the ISOGG tree and related SNPs
Haplogroup R-M124 is a subgroup of Haplogroup R-M479 (M479):
Prediction with haplotypes
Haplotype can be used to predict haplogroup. The chances of any person part of this haplogroup is the highest if DYS391=10, DYS392=10 and DYS426=12.