In
human mitochondrial geneticsHuman mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of the DNA contained in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are small structures in cells that generate energy for the cell to use, and are hence referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell....
,
Haplogroup T is a
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
mitochondrial DNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use...
(mtDNA)
haplogroupIn the study of molecular evolution, a haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor with a single nucleotide polymorphism mutation. Because a haplogroup consists of similar haplotypes, this is what makes it possible to predict a haplogroup from haplotypes. An SNP...
.
Haplogroup T derives from the
haplogroup JTIn human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup JT is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:A descendant of the macro-haplogroup R, Haplogroup JT is the ancestral haplogroup to mitochondrial haplogroups J and T.-Tree:...
, which also gave rise to
haplogroup JIn human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup J is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.Haplogroup J derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to Haplogroup T. In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes named the originator of this mtDNA haplogroup Jasmine...
. Haplogroup T is thought to have originated in
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
/the
Fertile CrescentThe Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often incorrectly extended to Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the birthplace of writing and the wheel.The...
approximately 10,000-12,000 years ago, and then moved northwest into Europe and east as far as modern Pakistan and India.
Haplogroup T is currently found with high concentrations around the eastern
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
. According to Oxford Ancestors, Haplogroup T "includes slightly fewer than 10% of modern Europeans.
In
human mitochondrial geneticsHuman mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of the DNA contained in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are small structures in cells that generate energy for the cell to use, and are hence referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell....
,
Haplogroup T is a
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
mitochondrial DNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use...
(mtDNA)
haplogroupIn the study of molecular evolution, a haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor with a single nucleotide polymorphism mutation. Because a haplogroup consists of similar haplotypes, this is what makes it possible to predict a haplogroup from haplotypes. An SNP...
.
Origin
Haplogroup T derives from the
haplogroup JTIn human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup JT is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:A descendant of the macro-haplogroup R, Haplogroup JT is the ancestral haplogroup to mitochondrial haplogroups J and T.-Tree:...
, which also gave rise to
haplogroup JIn human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup J is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.Haplogroup J derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to Haplogroup T. In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes named the originator of this mtDNA haplogroup Jasmine...
. Haplogroup T is thought to have originated in
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
/the
Fertile CrescentThe Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often incorrectly extended to Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the birthplace of writing and the wheel.The...
approximately 10,000-12,000 years ago, and then moved northwest into Europe and east as far as modern Pakistan and India.
Distribution
Haplogroup T is currently found with high concentrations around the eastern
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
. According to Oxford Ancestors, Haplogroup T "includes slightly fewer than 10% of modern Europeans. Its many branches are widely distributed throughout southern and western Europe with particularly high concentrations in Ireland and the west of Britain." According to the Genographic Project: "Haplogroup T has a very wide distribution, and is present as far east as the Indus Valley bordering India and Pakistan and as far south as the
Arabian peninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
. It is also common in eastern and northern Europe."
Early agriculturalists
Haplogroup T has been in Europe for less than 12,000 years which makes it the youngest of the mtDNA haplogroups found there. The Genographic Project states that early people with Haplogroup T were likely some of the first agriculturalists and probably comprised the group which first brought agriculture on to the European continent, bringing the "
Neolithic RevolutionHowever, the Neolithic Revolution involved far more than the adoption of a limited set of food-producing techniques. During the next millennia it would transform the small, mobile and fairly egalitarian groups of hunter-gatherers that had hitherto dominated human history, into sedentary societies...
" to Europe; they write: "Although the haplogroup was present during the early and middle Upper Paleolithic, [Haplogroup] T is generally considered one of the main genetic signatures of the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
expansions. While groups of hunter-gatherers and subsistence fishermen had been occupying much of Eurasia for tens of thousands of years, around ten thousand years ago a group of modern humans living in the
Fertile CrescentThe Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often incorrectly extended to Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the birthplace of writing and the wheel.The...
-present day eastern Turkey and northern Syria-began domesticating the plants, nuts, and seeds they had been collecting. What resulted were the world's first agriculturalists, and this new cultural era is typically referred to as the Neolithic. Groups of individuals able to support larger populations with this reliable food source began migrating out of the Middle East, bringing their new technology with them. By then, humans had already settled much of the surrounding areas, but this new agricultural technology proved too successful to ignore, and the surrounding groups quickly copied these new immigrants. Interesting, DNA data indicate that while these new agriculturalists were incredibly successful at planting their technology in the surrounding groups, they were far less successful at planting their own genetic seed. Agriculture was quickly and widely adopted, but the lineages carried by these Neolithic expansions are found at frequencies seldom greater than 20 percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia."
Tree
This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup T subclades is based on the paper by Mannis van Oven and Manfred Kayser
Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation and subsequent published research.
- T
- T1
- T2
- T2a
- T2b
- T2b1
- T2b2
- T2b3
- T2b4
- T2b5
- T2b6
- T2c
- T2d
- T2e
- T2f
- T2g
Popular Culture
In his popular book
The Seven Daughters of EveThe Seven Daughters of Eve is a book by Bryan Sykes that presents the theory of Human mitochondrial genetics to a general audience...
,
Bryan SykesBryan Sykes is Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wolfson College.Sykes published the first report on retrieving DNA from ancient bone...
, who is himself in haplogroup T, named the originator of this group
Tara, which means
rocky hill in
GaelicThe Goidelic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. They historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic...
. Sykes believes "Tara herself lived 17,000 years ago in the northwest of Italy among the hills of
TuscanyTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
and along the estuary of the river Arno."
The last
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n
tsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
,
Nicholas IINicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and claimed the title of King of Poland...
, has been shown to be of haplogroup T. This was established when genetic testing was done on his remains to authenticate his identity. Assuming all relevant pedigrees are correct, this includes all female-line descendants of his female line ancestor
Barbara of CeljeBarbara of Celje or Barbara of Cilli was Holy Roman Empress...
(1390-1451), wife of
Sigismund, Holy Roman EmperorSigismund was one of the longest ruling Kings of Hungary, reigning for fifty years from 1387 to 1437, and was also Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, and the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Bohemia from 1419, of Lombardia from 1431, and of Germany...
. This includes a great number of European nobles, including
George I of Great BritainGeorge I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
and
Frederick William I of PrussiaFrederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death. He is popularly known as "the Soldier-King"...
(through the
Electress Sophia of HanoverSophia of the Palatinate was the youngest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, of the House of Wittelsbach, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart...
),
Charles I of EnglandCharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
,
George III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
,
George V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I until his death in 1936...
,
Charles X Gustav of SwedenCharles X Gustav was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catharina of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and...
,
Gustavus Adolphus of SwedenGustav II Adolf , widely known in English by the Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus and variously in historical writings sometimes as simply just Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolf the Great, , was founder of the Swedish...
,
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of OrangeMaurice of Nassau , Prince of Orange , son of William the Silent and Princess Anna of Saxony, was born at the castle of Dillenburg...
,
Olav V of NorwayOlav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death.A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of the United Kingdom and given the names Alexander Edward Christian Frederik...
, and
George I of GreeceGeorge I, King of the Hellenes was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected King by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former King Otto...
.
The
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
outlaw
Jesse JamesJesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank and train robber from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death...
has been shown to be of subgroup T2.
Health Issues
Studies had shown mitochondrial haplogroup T to be associated with reduced sperm motility in males, although these results have been challenged.
According to the Departamento de Bioquimica y Biologica Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Zaragoza, haplogroup
T represents a weak genetic background that can predispose to
asthenozoospermiaAsthenozoospermia is the medical term for reduced sperm motility.It decreases the sperm quality and is therefore one of the major causes of infertility or reduced fertility in men.-External links:* *...
. However, these findings have been disputed.
Some studies have shown haplogroup T to be associated with increased risk for coronary artery disease. However, some studies have also shown that haplogroup T carriers are less prone to diabetes.
A few tentative medical studies have demonstrated that haplogroup T may offer some resistance to both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
See also
- Genealogical DNA test
A genealogical DNA test examines the nucleotides at specific locations on a person's DNA for genetic genealogy purposes. The test results are not meant to have any informative medical value and do not determine specific genetic diseases or disorders ; they are intended only to give genealogical...
- Genetic Genealogy
Genetic 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:...
- Human mitochondrial genetics
Human mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of the DNA contained in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are small structures in cells that generate energy for the cell to use, and are hence referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell....
- Population Genetics
Population genetics is the study of the allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes account of population subdivision and population structure in space. As such, it attempts...
External links