In human genetics, Haplogroup J-M172 or J2 is a Y-chromosome haplogroup which is a subclade (branch) of haplogroup J-M304. Haplogroup J-M172 is common in modern populations in Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Southern Europe, Northwestern Iran and North Africa. It is thought that J-M172 may have originated in the Caucasus, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and/or present-day Western Iran.Haplogroup J-M172, on: haplogroups.info.
It is further divided into two complementary clades, J-M410 and J-M12 (M12, M102, M221, M314).
Origins
The date of origin for haplogroup J-M172 was estimated by Batini et al in 2015 as between 19,000 and 24,000 years before present (BP). Samino et al in 2004 dated the origin of the parent haplogroup, J-P209, to between 18,900 and 44,500 YBP. Ancient J-M410, specifically subclade J-Y12379*, has been found, in a Mesolithic context, in a tooth from the Kotias Klde Cave in western Georgia from the Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old) and the Mesolithic (9,700 years old) This sample has been assigned to the Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) autosomal component. J-M410, more specifically its subclade J-PF5008, has also been found in a Mesolithic sample from the Hotu and Kamarband Caves located in Mazandaran Province of Iran, dating back to 9,100-8,600 B.C.E (approximately 11,000 ybp). Both samples belong to the Trialetian Culture. This confirms that haplogroup J2 was already present in the Caucasus and the southern Caspian region during the Mesolithic period.. The earliest Neolithic appearances of haplogroup J2 occurred in the form of a J2b sample from Tepe Abdul Hosein (8000 BC) in northwestern Iran, and J2a from the sites of Çayönü (7500 BC) in southeastern Anatolia and Barcın (6500–6200 BC) in northwestern Anatolia.
and claimed to have uncovered the earliest known migration of J2, expanded possibly from Anatolia and the Caucasus. found that, "According to , Eu 9 (H58) evolved from Eu 10 (H71) through a T→G transversion at M172 (emphasis added)," and that in today's populations, Eu 9 (the post-mutation form of M172) is strongest in the Caucasus, Asia Minor and the Levant, whilst Eu 10 becomes stronger and replaces the frequency of Eu 9 as one moves south into the Arabian Peninsula,. See especially Figure Six. is a source which also states that Eu 9 descends from Eu 10 (Eu 10 is a different subclade of Haplogroup J (mtDNA)). so that people from the Caucasus met with Arabs near and between Mesopotamia (Sumer/Assyria) and the Negev Desert, as "Arabisation" spread from Arabia to the Fertile Crescent and Turkey.
postulated that J-M172 haplogroup spread into Southern Europe from either the Levant or Anatolia, likely parallel to the development of agriculture. As to the timing of its spread into Europe, Di Giacomo et al. points to events which post-date the Neolithic, in particular the demographic floruit associated with the rise of the Ancient Greek world. derived older age estimates for overall J2 , postulating its initial spread with Neolithic farmers from the Near East. However, its subclade distribution, showing localized peaks in the Southern Balkans, southern Italy, north/central Italy and the Caucasus, does not conform to a single 'wave-of-advance' scenario, betraying a number of still poorly understood post-Neolithic processes which created its current pattern. Like Di Giacomo et al., the Bronze Age southern Balkans was suggested by Semino et al. to have been an important vector of spread.
Distribution Haplogroup J-M172 is found mainly in the Fertile Crescent, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Italy, the Mediterranean littoral, and the Iranian plateau. Y-DNA: J2 (J-M172): Syrid/Nahrainid Arabid(s).
The highest reported frequency of J-M172 ever was 87.4%, among Ingush in Malgobek.
Generally it is found in the North Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine, Greece (especially Crete), Israel, Kuwait, Cyprus, Iraq, Armenia, Italy, Syria, Albania, Spain and more specifically in Chechens 51.0%–58.0%, Georgians 21%–72%, Lebanese 30%, Bahrainis 27.6%, Turks 13%–40%, Cypriots 12.9%–37%, Iraqis 24%, Ossetians 24%, Balkars 24%, Syrians 23%,, Sephardi Jews 15%–29%, Italians 9%–36%, Armenians 21%–24%, Circassians 21.8%, Maltese 21%, North Indian Shia Muslim 18%. Iranians 10%–25%, Palestinians 17%, Albanians 16%, Assyrians 15%, Saudis 14%, Jordanians 14% and Omanis 10%–15%.
North Africa Country/Region Sampling N J-M172 Study TunisiaTunisia628 TunisiaSousse2208.2 AlgeriaOran1024.9 Egypt1247.6 Egypt14712.0 Morocco 2214.1 North AfricaAlgeria, Tunisia 2023.5 Haplogroup J2 is found with low frequencies in North Africa with a hotspot in Sousse region, most of Sousse samples have the same haplotypes found in Haplogroup J-L271 which was found in Msaken.
Central Asia
Country/Region Sampling N J-M172 Study XinjiangLop Uyghurs6457.8 XinjiangUyghurs5034 TajikistanYaghnobis3132 DushanbeTajiks1631 XinjiangUzbeks2330.4 AfghanistanHazara6026.6 XinjiangKeriyan Uyghurs3925.6 KazakhstanUyghurs4120 SamarkandTajiks4020 TajikistanTajiks3818.4 TurkmenistanTurkmens3017 XinjiangPamiri Tajiks3116.1 AfghanistanUzbeks12616 BukharaUzbeks5816 SamarkandUzbeks4516 SurkhandaryaUzbeks6816 UzbekistanUzbeks36613.4 KazakhstanKazakhs3013.3 Turpan areaUyghurs1439.8 Hotan areaUyghurs4789.2 ChangjiHui1759.1 XinjiangDolan Uyghurs767.9 NingxiaHui657.7 KizilsuKyrgyz2416.64% KazakhstanKazakhs12944.33% KyrgyzstanKyrgyz1323.79%
J-M172 is found at moderate frequencies among Central Asian people such as Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Tajiks, Kazakhs, and Yaghnobis. According to the genetic study in Northwest China by Shou et al. (2010), a notable high frequency of J-M172 is observed particularly in Uyghurs 34% and Uzbeks 30.4% in Xinjiang, China. Liu Shuhu et al. (2018) found J2a1 (L26/Page55/PF5110/S57, L27/PF5111/S396) in 43.75% (28/64) and J2a2 (L581/S398) in 14.06% (9/64) of a sample of Lop Uyghurs from Qarchugha Village of Yuli (Lopnur) County, Xinjiang, J2a1b1 (M92, M260/Page14) in 25.64% (10/39) of a sample of Keriyan Uyghurs from Darya Boyi Village of Yutian (Keriya) County, Xinjiang, and J2a1 (L26/Page55/PF5110/S57, L27/PF5111/S396) in 3.95% (3/76) and J2a2 (L581/S398) in 3.95% (3/76) of a sample of Dolan Uyghurs from Horiqol Township of Awat County, Xinjiang. Only far northwestern ethnic minorities had haplogroup J in Xinjiang, China. Uzbeks in the sample had 30.4% J2-M172 and Tajiks of Xinjiang and Uyghurs also had it.
The haplogroup has an ancient presence in Central Asia and seems to have preceded the spread of Islam. In addition, the immediate ancestor of J-M172, namely J* (J-M304*, a.k.a. J-P209*, J-12f2.1*) is also found among Xibo, Kazakh, Dongxiang and Uzbek people in Northwest China.
In 2015, two ancient samples belonging to J-M172 or J-M410 (J2a) were found at two different archaeological sites in Altai, eastern Russia: Kytmanovo and Sary-bel kurgan. Both of the ancient samples are related to Iron Age cultures in Altai. Sary-bel J2/J2a is dated to 50 BC whereas Kytmanovo sample is dated to 721-889 AD. Genetic admixture analysis of these samples also suggests that the individuals were more closely related to West Eurasians than other Altaians from the same period, although they also seem to be related to present-day Turkic peoples of the region. F999962 for RISE504, Kytmanovo sample, and F999965 for RISE602, Sary-bel sample.
Europe Country/Region Sampling N J-M172 Study Albania5519.9% Bosnia-HerzegovinaSerbs818.7%Cyprus16412.9%GreeceMacedonia14214.2%GreeceThrace4117%GreeceAsia Minor and Aegean10520%GreeceThessaly7220.8%GreeceCentral Greece and Attica19924.1%GreecePeloponnese17915.6% GreeceCrete14335% Iberia 6557% Iberia 11407.7% ItalySicily76522.3% ItalyNorth3808.6% ItalyCenter21419.6% ItalySouth58919.7% ItalySardinia10109.6% ItalyVal Badia348.8% Malta 9021.1% PortugalNorth, Center, South3036.9% PortugalTras-os-Montes (Jews)5724.55% Sardinia 819.9% SpainMallorca628.1% SpainSevilla1557.8% SpainLeon605% SpainIbiza543.7% SpainCantabria702.9% SpainGalicia29213% SpainCanary Islands 65210.5% In Europe, the frequency of Haplogroup J-M172 drops as one moves northward away from the Mediterranean. In Italy, J-M172 is found with regional frequencies ranging between 9% and 36%. In Greece, it is found with regional frequencies ranging between 10% and 48%. Detailed and modern phylogenetic analysis strongly suggests the Caucasus and regions North of it as likely to be the origin of the Greek and Italian J-M172 haplogroup.
It has been proposed that haplogroup subclade J-M410 was linked to populations on ancient Crete by examining the relationship between Anatolian, Cretan, and Greek populations from around early Neolithic sites in Crete. Haplogroup J-M172 was associated with Neolithic Greece (ca. 8500 - 4300 BCE) and was reported to be found in modern Crete (3.1%) and mainland Greece (Macedonia 7.0%, Thessaly 8.8%, Argolis 1.8%).
North Caucasus Country/Region Sampling N J-M172 Study CaucasusAbkhaz5813.8 CaucasusAvar1156 CaucasusChechen33057 CaucasusAdyghe14221.8 CaucasusDargins1011 CaucasusIngush14388.8 CaucasusKaitak333 CaucasusKumyks7321 CaucasusKubachi650 CaucasusLezghins812.5 CaucasusOssets35716 CaucasusShapsug1006 Caucasus152528.1 J-M172 is found at very high frequencies in certain peoples of the Caucasus: among the Ingush 87.4%, Chechens 57.8%, Georgians 21%-72%, Azeris 24%-48%, Abkhaz 25%, Balkars 24%, Ossetians 24%, Armenians 21%-24%, Adyghe 21.8%, and other groups.
West Asia Country/Region Sampling N J-M172 Study JewishAshkenazim Jewish 44219 Iran9225 Iraq15424BahrainNorthern, Capital, Muharraq, South56227.6 Palestinian ArabAkka10118.6 Jordan27314.6 Lebanon95129.4 Oman12110.0 Qatar728.3 Saudi Arabia 15714 SyriaSyria55420.8 Turkey52324.2 UAE16410.3 Yemen629.6 Sephardi Jews have about 15%-29%, of haplogroup J-M172, and Ashkenazi Jews have 15%-23%. It was reported in an early study which tested only four STR markers that a small sample of Italian Cohens belonged to Network 1.2, an early designation for the overall clade now known as J-L26, defined by the deletion at DYS413. However, a large number of all Jewish Cohens in the world belong to haplogroup J-M267 (see Cohen modal haplotype). Approximately 24% of Turkish men are J-M172, with regional frequencies ranging between 13% and 40%. Combined with J-M267, up to half of the Turkish population belongs to Haplogroup J-P209.
Haplogroup J-M172 has been shown to have a more northern distribution in the Middle East, although it exists in significant amounts in the southern middle-east regions, a lesser amount of it was found when compared to its brother haplogroup, J-M267, which has a high frequency southerly distribution. It was believed that the source population of J-M172 originated from the Levant/Syria (Syrid-J-M172), and that its occurrence among modern populations of Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia was a sign of the Neolithic agriculturalists. However, as stated it is now believed more likely to have been spread in waves, as a result of post-Neolithic processes .
South Asia Haplogroup J2 has been present in South Asia mostly as J2a-M410 and J2b-M102, since Neolithic times (9500 YBP).