In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup K is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.

Origin

It is the most common subclade of haplogroup U8 and it has an estimated age in Europe of c. 12,000 years BP.

Distribution

Haplogroup K that represents a sizeable fraction of the Western Eurasian genetic pool. In Europe, it is particularly common around the Alps and the British Isles. It is found in lesser frequency in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Also, approximately 32% of the haplotypes of modern people with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry are in haplogroup K.

Subclades

Tree

This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup K 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.

mtDNA HG "K" p-tree
U8b'K U8b K K1 K1a K1a1 K1a1a K1a1a1 K1a1b K1a1b1 K1a1b1a K1a1b1b K1a1b2 K1a1b2a K1a2 K1a2a K1a2b K1a3 K1a3a K1a3a1 K1a3a1a K1a4 K1a4a K1a4a1 K1a4a1a K1a4a1b K1a4b K1a4b1 K1a4c K1a4d K1a5 K1a6 K1a7'8 K1a7 K1a8 K1a8a K1a9 K1a10 K1a11 K1a12 K1a12a K1b K1b1 K1b1a K1b1a1 K1b1b K1b1c K1b2 K1b2a K1b2b K1c K1c1 K1c1a K1c1b K1c2 K1ö K2 K2a K2a1 K2a1a K2a2 K2a2a K2a3 K2a4 K2a5 K2a6 K2b K2b1 K2b1a K2c

Popular Culture

In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes named the originator of this mtDNA haplogroup Katrine.Analysis of the mtDNA of Ötzi the Iceman, the frozen mummy from 3300 BC found on the Austrian-Italian border, has shown that Ötzi belongs to the K1 subclade but that it cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade (K1a, K1b or K1c). The new subclade has preliminarly been named K1ö for Ötzi.

On an 18 November 2005 broadcast of the Today Show, during an interview with Dr. Spencer Wells of The National Geographic Genographic Project, host Katie Couric was revealed to belong to haplogroup K. [250855]

On 14 August 2007, Stephen Colbert was told by Dr Spencer Wells that he is a member of this haplogroup during a segment on The Colbert Report.

References

1. A. González et al. The mitochondrial lineage U8a reveals a Paleolithic settlement in the Basque country. BMC Genomics, 2006
2. Richards et al., Tracing European Founder Lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA Pool. AJHG, 2000.
3. Luca Ermini et al. (30 October 2008), "Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean Iceman", Current Biology.[1]

See also

• Genealogical DNA test
• Genetic Genealogy
• Haplogroup K1a1b1a
• Human mitochondrial genetics
• Population Genetics
• Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups

External links

• General
  • Ian Logan's Mitochondrial DNA Site
  • Mannis van Oven's Phylotree
• Haplogroup K
  • Spread of Haplogroup K, from National Geographic
  • Swinging in the mtDNA Tree
  • mtDNA Haplogroup K Project at Family Tree DNA
  • Danish Demes Regional DNA Project: mtDNA Haplogroup K
  • Doron M. Behar et al., "The Matrilineal Ancestry of Ashkenazi Jewry: Portrait of a Recent Founder Event", The American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 78, March 2006. The article contains a table detailing the subclades of the entirety of haplogroup K as of 2006. NOTE: The table reads "14307" where it should say "14037" in the list of mutations for subclade K2b.