January 30, 2015

Based on two known Big Y test results, the Jewish A1 subgroup may be identifiable by one or more of SNPs FGC13195, FGC13214, and FGC13223. The Jewish Group A2 subgroup may be identifiable by one or more of SNPs A691 and A692. These SNPs are now available as custom ordered tests from FTDNA. It may be of interest to people in Jewish A1 and A2 to consider ordering the relevant SNP tests to further the project's knowledge of these two subgroups.

We are awaiting the Big Y test results for a member in Jewish Group A3 (those with Mizrachi ancestry). These results may tell us something about the divergence of Jewish Groups A1 and A2 from Jewish Group A3, which may have happened 1500-2000 years ago, and will help narrow the possible historical scenarios that might have been responsible for the emergence of Eastern European R-M124 Ashkenazim.

November 9, 2014

SNP F2791 was found in a member of the Jewish A3 Mizrachi subgroup, so there is no need for people in Jewish A1 or A2 subgroups to order F2791. It may be phylogenetically equivalent to SNP F1758, which has now been found outside of the Jewish A1, A2, and A3 groups in at least two other kits.

Based on an analysis of Big Y test results, the following three SNPs do appear to differentiate the Jewish A1 subgroup from the Jewish A2 subgroup:

   SNP FGC13195 (GRCh37/hg19 location   9,485,615 with mutation A>G)
   SNP FGC13214 (GRCh37/hg19 location 15,990,243 with mutation G>T)
   SNP FGC13223 (GRCh37/hg19 location 18,062,902 with mutation C>T)

The following two SNPs appear to differentiate the Jewish A2 subgroup from the Jewish A1 subgroup:

  SNP A691 (GRCh37/hg19 location   7,730,230 with mutation T>C)

  SNP A692 (GRCh37/hg19 location 23,196,937 with mutation A>T)

A request has been made to make the above five SNPs available as stand-alone custom SNP tests from FTDNA for people wishing to test them.

July 11, 2014

SNP F2791, found in Jewish Group A1 and Jewish Group A2 Ashkenazi Big Y testers, is now available as an advanced order from FTDNA. It is still not known whether F2791 is above, below or equivalent to F1758. If you are in the Jewish Group A1 or A2 Ashkenazi subgroups, then you are likely to be positive for F1092, F1159, F1758, and F3604 (and probably F2791). A test is on order for a member of the Jewish A3 Mizrachi subgroup to see if F2791 is found there as well. Tests are still in progress to determine if F1758 will be found outside of the Jewish A1, A2, and A3 subgroups.

June 15, 2014

Based on updated results from various Geno 2.0 testers, it appears that SNP F1758 is indeed downstream from SNPs F1092/F1159/F3604, as there is a non-Jewish tester with Slovakian ancestry that is positive for F1092/F1159/F3604 but negative for F1758. This would imply that F1758 is the real identifying SNP for Jewish Cluster A. Tests are in progress to determine whether F1758 will also be found in kits with Mizrachi or Kuwaiti ancestries.

Also, based on an initial analysis of two Jewish Group A Big Y results, there appears to be yet another SNP called F2791 that may also identify Jewish Group A, as it was found in both Jewish Group A Big Y results. However, it is not known yet whether F2791 is above, below, or equivalent to F1758. SNP F2791 has not been found in any other R2 Big Y tests to date, implying it is closely linked to F1092, F1159, F3604 and F1758.

The most recent draft phylogenetic tree for the entire R2 haplogroup, as constructed by the administrator of the broader R2 FTDNA project, can be seen by clicking on the Results option under About This Group on dark blue banner at the top of this page.

April 25, 2014

FTDNA released its new Y-DNA haplogroup tree today. The new FTDNA tree is somewhat different than the current ISOGG tree because it has been created in partnership with National Geographic's Genographic Project and uses results that have been seen in people who have taken the Genographic 2.0 test.

The new FTDNA tree should be considered an interim tree with future planned updates as more information is gleaned from new tests such as BIG Y. In this new tree, SNP F1092 has been designated as R2a2. SNPs F3604 and F1159 are also listed at this level. SNP F1758 is listed as being downstream from F1092 and is now designated as R2a2a.

People who have not tested for F1092 but known to be M124 are listed as R2a, and those who are known to be M124 and L288 are now listed as R2a4. R2a3 appears to be reserved for people who have tested positive for F813, which is not a SNP found in any Jewish clusters.

All people who tested for positive for F1092 in Geno 2.0 tested also tested positive for F1758, so it is not necessary for people who are F1092 to test for F1758, unless confirmation of a positive result for F1758 is desired. It may be better to wait for the next iteration of the tree which may include new SNPs discovered through analysis of BIG Y test results for members of the Jewish clusters. 

March 30, 2014

Jewish Clusters A1 (Ashkenazi) and A2 (Mizrachi) are likely identified by four distinct Y-DNA SNP mutations - F1092, F1159, F1758, and F3604. Two of these SNPs, F1159 and F3604, have been found in non-Jewish Geno 2.0 results. SNP F1092 was also recently found in a Kuwaiti Arab FTDNA result. This may mean that SNPs F1159 and F3604 represent an early branch of the R2a tree that is upstream of two identifiable sub-branches (sub-clades):

• A sub-clade downstream from F1159/F3604 identified by SNPs F1092 and F1758, and which has Jewish Ashkenazi, Jewish Mizrachi, and Arab Kuwaiti ancestral histories.

• A sub-clade downstream from F1159/F3604 that DOES NOT have SNPs F1092 or F1758, nor known Jewish descendants, but does have Slovakian ancestral histories.

This new sub-clade characterization is now described in the February 7, 2014 Chris Morley experimental phylogenetic tree available at:

http://ytree.morleydna.com/ExperimentalGenoPhylogeny20140207.pdf

The finding of positive F1092 results in kits with Jewish Ashkenazi, Jewish Mizrachi and Arab Kuwaiti ancestry is evidence that F1092, and likely F1758, has a long history in the Middle East, lending support to the hypothesis that F1092 and F1758 may trace back to the Babylonian era.