In
human genetics
Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in Human, human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, populatio ...
,
Y Haplogroup E-M123 is a
Y-chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining chromosome because the presence of the Y ...
haplogroup
A haplotype is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent, and a haplogroup (haploid from the , ''haploûs'', "onefold, simple" and ) is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor with a sing ...
, and defined by the
single nucleotide polymorphism
In genetics and bioinformatics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP ; plural SNPs ) is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome. Although certain definitions require the substitution to be present in ...
(SNP)
mutation
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...
M123. Like its closest relatives within the larger E-M215 haplogroup, E-M123 is found in
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
,
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.
Origin
The Middle East has been proposed as the most likely origin for this lineage rather than East Africa or North Africa.
In fact E-M34 seems to be restricted to Semitic speakers in Ethiopia, as it has not been detected in other populations in the region such as
Somalia, Kenya .
Distribution
E-M123 is best known for its major sub-clade E-M34, which dominates this clade.
[As of 11 November 2008 for example]
the E-M35 phylogeny project
had records of four E-M123* tests (20 records; 26 May 2017), compared to 93 test results with E-M34. However, earlier studies did not test for E-M34. Looking beyond its geographical patterns, E-M123 is also quite common in many
Semitic language
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic,
Amharic, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew, Maltese, Modern South Arabian languages and numerous other ancient and modern languages. They are spoken by mo ...
communities, including among
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
,and
Sephardic
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, accounting for over 10% of all male lines .
Subclade distribution
E-M123* (tested and definitely without E-M34)
Such cases are relatively rare, but the following have been reported.
* located one individual in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
after testing 3401 individuals from five continents (of which 116 were Bulgarian), and located one individual in
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
out of 1062 people tested, including 184 from Central Asia and Siberia.
*In a 568-person study in
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...
, found two E-M123* individuals, both in Northern Portugal out of 109 people tested there.
*In a 553-person study of Portugal, also found two E-M123* individuals in Northern Portugal, out of 101 people, as well as 2 in
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
out of 129 people tested there.
* found one individual out of 146
Jordanians, this being one of the 101 individuals tested in
Amman
Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
.
* found 1 Tunisian from Tunis in their study of 275 men in Northern Africa, which included 148 people from Tunis.
*Studies which tested for E-M123* but found none include...
::*, with 523 individuals in Anatolia;
::* found none amongst the significant presence of E-M34 they found in their study of the
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
,
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
and
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
.
::* found none in their 168 person study of Crete.
::* found none in their study of 169 Israelis and Palestinians of various ancestry.
E-M123 has sometimes been reported without checking for the M-34 SNP, for example:
* found E-M123 examples in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, the
Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
, and
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
.
* also found examples in Portugal.
* found one sample in Somalia.
* reports relatively high levels of 13% in the Albanian community of
Cosenza
Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...
, in
Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
. A notably high regional frequency for E-M123 was in
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
, where it is apparently the dominant clade of E-M35.
* found 12 men out of 121 there were E-M123 positive, while in Egypt there were 7 out of 147. But in that study the Omani E-M123 diversity implied a younger age than the E-M123 found in Egypt. ( tested for E-M34 in Oman and found 7.7% to be E-M34+, with no E-M123*.)
* found 4.66% overall in their 236-person study of Sicily, with higher levels in the east of the island. They found none in
Trapani
Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...
(33 people),
Alcamo
Alcamo (; ) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilometr ...
(24 people), and
Cacamo (16 people) along the west of the north coast; 3.23% in
San Ninfa (31 people) inland in the west; 3.57% in
Sciacca
Sciacca (; ; , , , or ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily, southern Italy. It has views of the Mediterranean Sea.
History
Thermae was founded in the 5th century BC by the Greeks, as ...
(28 people) and
Ragusa Ragusa may refer to:
Places Croatia
* Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik
* the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa
* Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...
(28 people) along the south coast; and then high levels in the east in
Troina
Troina ( Sicilian: ''Traina'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Enna, in the Italian region of Sicily. It is located in the Nebrodi Park. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
Hi ...
(10% of 30 people),
Piazza Armerina
Piazza Armerina (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Ciazza''; Sicilian: ''Chiazza'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy.
History
The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed ...
(10.71% of 28 people), as well as near the Southwestern extreme facing Africa at
Mazaro de Vallo (11.11% of 18 people).
* found 11 E-M123 people in their 1140-person study of Iberia: 1 out of 95 Eastern Andalusians; 1 out of 100 NW Castilians; 1 out of 80 Catalans; 2 out of 52 Extramadurans; 2 out of 60 Northern Portuguese, 1 out of 78 Southern Portuguese, 1 out of 73 Southern Portuguese; 1 out of 73 Valencians; and highest levels apparently in the Balearics with 5 out of 37 Minorcans and 4 out of 54 Ibizans. There were none in Majorca (62 people), Gascony (24), Galicia (88), NE Castile (31), Castilla la Mancha (63), The Basque Country (116), the Asturias (20), West Andalucia (73), and Aragon (34).
* found 9 out of 323 people in 3 areas of Sardinia. 4 out of 187 in Cagliari, 1 out of 103 in Sorgono, and 4 out of 86 in
Tempio.
* found 10 out of 169 Israelis and Palestinians of various ancestry to be M123+ and M34+, with the highest level group being 4 out of 20 Israeli Jews of Libyan ancestry
And E-M34 has sometimes been tested without testing for M123:
*According to , E-M34 is found at small frequencies in North Africa and Southern Europe (6.6% in Sicily for example), and has its highest concentration in Ethiopia and the Near East (with highest levels in Oman and Turkey). However, because the diversity is apparently low in Ethiopia, the authors suggest that E-M34 was likely introduced into Ethiopia from the Near East.
*In Turkey, found slightly more E-M34 (29) than E-M78 (26) out of 523 individuals tested (a far different E1b1b population than found in the nearby Balkans).
* reported E-M34 in several parts of Iberia, but most strikingly about 10% in
Galicia.
* found about the same levels of E-M34 in Portugal as E-M123*, but E-M34 mainly in Central Portugal (4 people out of 102 tested there) with one more person found in the
Açores.
*Strikingly, found 14 out of 45 men tested in the
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...
area of Jordan to be M34 positive (31.1%), while in the capital
Amman
Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
there were only 4 out of 101.
* found 8.1% of 62 men tested in
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
were positive for M34, compared to much lower levels in
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
(1.4%) and the
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
(3.1%).
* in their study of 275 men in Northern Africa found 2 out of 148 Tunisians from Tunis, 2 out of 19 Algerian Berbers from Tizi Ouzu in
Kabylie
Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle language, Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kaby ...
(10.5%), and 3 out of 44 North Egyptians, 4 out of 29 South Egyptians (So 9.5% in all
Egyptians
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...
).
* found 3 in their 168-person study of Crete, 2 in Heraklion and 1 in Lasithi.
* found one in South Iran out of 117 people, and none in North Iran out of 33 people.
* found 26 E-M123 cases in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, out of 164 men tested; and 27 Palestinians out of 291 tested. This was apparently higher than the level of E-M78.
Subclades of E-M34
*E-M84, defined by SNP mutation M84, with M136 defining a sub-clade as of October 2008.
Th
E-M35 Phylogeny Projectestimates
based on testing so far (in January 2009) that E-M84 is dominant in 6 out of the 8 clusters of E-M34 which that project identifies.
*E-M290, defined by SNP mutation M290. found 1 Palestinian
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
exemplar.
*E-V23, defined by SNP mutation V23. announced the discovery of this clade. They found it in two African individuals. The authors warned that they had not yet confirmed that this clade was not a sub-clade or parent clade of either M84 or M290, so the phylogenetic position E1b1b1c1c is tentative.
Ancient DNA
* According to the genetic analyses done on six
Natufian
The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...
remains from Northern Israel, the Natufians carried the Y-DNA haplogroup E-Z830, a somewhat upwind clade of E-M123 (and therefore ancestral to it). The Natufians were one of the first settled peoples in the world and may have contributed to the domestication of certain crops, and thus the advent of agriculture. The discovery of E-Z830 (without other clades) suggests an indigenous presence in
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
and
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
that predates all other clades, which are not known to have existed in the region at the time (10,000 years before present). E-M123 is thought to have a TMRCA about 18,000 years ago, 8,000 years before the Natufian (possibly ancestral) remains are from.
*
Haplogroup
A haplotype is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent, and a haplogroup (haploid from the , ''haploûs'', "onefold, simple" and ) is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor with a sing ...
E1b1b1b2 has been found in 75% of the 'Ain Ghazal population, along with 60% of
PPNB
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon during ...
populations circa 8,800–6,500 BC. (See:
'Ain Ghazal).
* A study on population genomics of
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
and the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
found in
Arslantepe
Arslantepe, also known as Melid, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It has been identified with the modern archaeological site of Arslantepe near Malatya, Turkey.
It was na ...
one individual who lived circa 3369-3110 BC, who belonged to E-M84 (E1b1b1b2a1a1~).
* A study on the population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia found in the remains from
Nerkin Getashen in
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, lived during the
Middle Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, two E-M84.
* A study on population genomics of
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
and the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
found in the ancient city of
Ebla
Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ...
during the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, one male individual who is E-M84 (E1b1b1b2a1a1~).
* A study on South Asian history, Narasimhan et al. (2019), found several individuals who belonged to E-Y31991 in Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age samples in the Swat valley, modern north Pakistan.
* A 137-sample study of ancient Eurasian genomes found one Central Scythian who belonged to E-M123* (E-Y31991), in modern northeast Kazakhstan, dated from 800-750BC. According to the BAM file, made available by the authors, he's presumed to be E-Y168273,
a clade downstream of PF4428 which is itself under E-M123*.
Phylogenetics
Phylogenetic history
Prior to 2002, there were in academic literature at least seven naming systems for the Y-Chromosome Phylogenetic tree. This led to considerable confusion. In 2002, the major research groups came together and formed the Y-Chromosome Consortium (YCC). They published a joint paper that created a single new tree that all agreed to use. Later, a group of citizen scientists with an interest in population genetics and genetic genealogy formed a working group to create an amateur tree aiming at being above all timely. The table below brings together all of these works at the point of the landmark 2002 YCC Tree. This allows a researcher reviewing older published literature to quickly move between nomenclatures.
Research publications
The following research teams per their publications were represented in the creation of the YCC tree.
Phylogenetic trees
*E-M123 (M123)
**E-M34 (M34)
***E-M84 (M84)
****E-M136 (M136)
***E-M290 (M290)
***E-V23 (V23)
***E-L791 (L791,L792)
See also
Genetics
Y-DNA E subclades
Y-DNA backbone tree
References
Notes
Works cited
Sources for conversion tables
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{{Refend
E1b1b1c