About us
mtDNA Haplogroup A2
The modern geography of A2 and its subclades are virtually restricted to the Americas. According to Behar et al. 2012, A2 is between 13,750 and 18,000 years old. This project was formed to study and better understand mitochondrial haplogroup A2.
Trends for A2 subclades have emerged within Family Tree DNA studies and the number and complexity of twigs and branches on the A2 phylotree continue to increase as more people test. For every twig and branch on the A2 phylotree, there is a corresponding story -- of family and relatedness, language and culture, and travel across the Americas. In coordination with project participants and administrators across the Family Tree DNA community, the A2 mtDNA Haplogroup Project seeks to correlate A2 subclade markers with these stories; plot ancestors' paths; and trace earliest roots.
This project is open to members who have had the mtDNA test through Family Tree DNA, and who belong to the A2 haplogroup or one of its subclades. The project recommends members have the "full mitochondrial sequence" mtDNA test for purposes of calculating genetic distance among matches and refinement of mtDNA subclade assignments. Family Tree DNA adheres to mtDNA phylotree "Build 17" in assigning mtDNA subclades. PLEASE HAVE THE FULL MITOCHONDRIAL SEQUENCE MTDNA TEST FROM FAMILY TREE DNA AND PLEASE CHECK YOUR MTDNA TEST RESULTS FROM FAMILY TREE DNA AND VERIFY THAT YOU BELONG TO AN A2 MTDNA HAPLOGROUP OR AN A2 SUBCLADE BEFORE JOINING THIS PROJECT. THANK YOU.
When making inquiries about this project, please contact all project administrators (i.e., together, in a single email message) so that whomever might happen to be able to answer first, or whomever has the most appropriate expertise, can do so.
Co-Administrator Biography:
Washington, D.C. area resident, University of Maryland College Park graduate Marie Rundquist applies her diverse experience -- as a DNA project manager, collaborative research community moderator, and president of an information systems consulting firm, in researching her North American family history. Interweaving DNA test results, history, and genealogy, Rundquist develops comprehensive historical narratives that are uniquely products of the present but which give voice to unheard ancestors, and truths, of the past.
Rundquist's published books and articles include Revisiting Anne Marie: How an Amerindian Woman of Seventeenth-Century Nova Scotia and a DNA Match Redefine American Heritage (2009), Cajun by Any Other Name: Recovering the Lost History of a Family and a People (2012), and "Finding Anne Marie: The Hidden History of our Acadian Ancestors (2006)." "Autosomal DNA Results Test Hundreds of Years of Genealogy Records in a Proof of Ancestry." Southern California Genealogical Society, Summer 2015, Vol. 52, Issue #3. A result of Rundquist's advocacy with the State of Maryland, a Maryland Historical Trust marker stands in Princess Anne, Maryland in testimony to Acadians who were expulsed from Nova Scotia by the British, and sent to Maryland in 1755. Marie Rundquist was among 55 authors of Acadie Then and Now: A People's History (2014), edited by Warren Perrin, Phil Comeau and Mary Perrin. The collective work that chronicles the past and present histories of Acadians worldwide was awarded the Prix France-Acadie 2015.
Ms. Rundquist divides her time between homes in the D.C. area and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and regularly presents to groups about her work with genealogy and DNA. Ms. Rundquist’s family, heritage, parakeets, friends, travels, clients, career, writing, and management of DNA projects are her life. Related training and memberships: Course Certificate: Genes and the Human Condition (From Behavior to Biotechnology) University of Maryland, Certificate of Completion: Learning from Knowledge Keepers of Mi'kma'ki, Cape Breton University, Unama'ki College of Nova Scotia, Canada (MIKM 2701 2016).Analyzing and Utilizing Data from Next-Generation Sequencers in the Forensic Genomics Era, ISHI Oct 12-15 2015 Texas. International Society of Genetic Genealogy.
Please visit the website, https://familyheritageresearchcommunity.org to read articles about how real people like you discovered Native American ancestry by way of DNA testing.
Forums
References
- Achilli, A., Perego, U. A., Bravi, C. M., Coble, M. D., Kong, Q.-P., Woodward, S. R., Salas, A., Torroni, A., and Bandelt, H.-J. (2008). The phylogeny of the four Pan-American MtDNA haplogroups: Implications for evolutionary and disease studies. PLoS ONE, 3(3):e1764+.
- Behar, D. M., van Oven, M., Rosset, S., Metspalu, M., Loogväli, E.-L., Silva, N. M., Kivisild, T., Torroni, A., and Villems, R. (2012). A ” copernican” reassessment of the human mitochondrial DNA tree from its root. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 90(4):675-684.
- Cardoso, S., Alfonso-Sánchez, M. A., Valverde, L., Sánchez, D., Zarrabeitia, M. T., Odriozola, A., Martínez-Jarreta, B., and de Pancorbo, M. M. (2012). Genetic uniqueness of the waorani tribe from the ecuadorian amazon. Heredity, 108(6):609-615.
- Derenko, M., Malyarchuk, B., Grzybowski, T., Denisova, G., Dambueva, I., Perkova, M., Dorzhu, C., Luzina, F., Lee, H. K., Vanecek, T., Villems, R., and Zakharov, I. (2007). Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA in northern asian populations. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 81(5):1025-1041.
- Thomas, Kivisild, T., Grønnow, B., Andersen, P. K., Metspalu, E., Reidla, M., Tamm, E., Axelsson, E., Götherström, A., Campos, P. F., Rasmussen, M., Metspalu, M., Higham, T. F. G., Schwenninger, J.-L., Nathan, R., De Hoog, C.-J., Koch, A., Møller, L. N., Andreasen, C., Meldgaard, M., Villems, R., Bendixen, C., and Willerslev, E. (2008). Paleo-Eskimo mtDNA genome reveals matrilineal discontinuity in greenland. Science, 320(5884):1787-1789.
- Kolman, C. J., Bermingham, E., Cooke, R., Ward, R. H., Arias, T. D., and Guionneau-Sinclair, F. (1995). Reduced mtDNA diversity in the ngöbé amerinds of panamá. Genetics, 140(1):275-283.
- Kong, Q.-P., Bandelt, H.-J., Sun, C., Yao, Y.-G., Salas, A., Achilli, A., Wang, C.-Y., Zhong, L., Zhu, C.-L., Wu, S.-F., Torroni, A., and Zhang, Y.-P. (2006). Updating the east asian mtDNA phylogeny: a prerequisite for the identification of pathogenic mutations. Human Molecular Genetics, 15(13):2076-2086.
- Kumar, S., Bellis, C., Zlojutro, M., Melton, P., Blangero, J., and Curran, J. (2011). Large scale mitochondrial sequencing in mexican americans suggests a reappraisal of native american origins. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11(1):293+.
- Metspalu, M., Kivisild, T., Bandelt, H.-J., Richards, M., and Villems, R. (2006). The pioneer settlement of modern humans in asia. In Bandelt, H.-J., Macaulay, V., and Richards, M., editors, Human Mitochondrial DNA and the Evolution of Homo sapiens, volume 18 of Nucleic Acids and Molecular Biology, chapter 8, pages 181-199. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
- Perego, U. A., Lancioni, H., Tribaldos, M., Angerhofer, N., Ekins, J. E., Olivieri, A., Woodward, S. R., Pascale, J. M., Cooke, R., Motta, J., and Achilli, A. (2012). Decrypting the mitochondrial gene pool of modern panamanians. PLoS ONE, 7(6):e38337+.
- Santos, M., Ward, R. H., and Barrantes, R. (1994). mtDNA variation in the chibcha amerindian huetar from costa rica. Human biology, 66(6):963-977.
- Tamm, E., Kivisild, T., Reidla, M., Metspalu, M., Smith, D. G., Mulligan, C. J., Bravi, C. M., Rickards, O., Martinez-Labarga, C., Khusnutdinova, E. K., Fedorova, S. A., Golubenko, M. V., Stepanov, V. A., Gubina, M. A., Zhadanov, S. I., Ossipova, L. P., Damba, L., Voevoda, M. I., Dipierri, J. E., Villems, R., and Malhi, R. S. (2007). Beringian standstill and spread of native american founders. PLoS ONE, 2(9):e829+.
- Volodko, N. V., Starikovskaya, E. B., Mazunin, I. O., Eltsov, N. P., Naidenko, P. V., Wallace, D. C., and Sukernik, R. I. (2008). Mitochondrial genome diversity in arctic siberians, with particular reference to the evolutionary history of beringia and pleistocenic peopling of the americas. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 82(5):1084-1100.
Journals and Newsletters
- American Journal of Human Genetics
- Annals of Human Genetics
- European Journal of Human Genetics
- Family Tree DNA Newsletter: Facts & Genes
- Family Tree DNA Newsletter: Facts & Genes Archives
- Genome Research
- Human Genetics
- Journal of Genetic Genealogy
- Society for Molecular Biology