Åùå ïðî ãàïëîãðóïïó Í (
Ìîëãåí)
Haplogroup H is the
most common mitochondrial DNA lineage in western Eurasian populations, particularly in southwestern Europe. Overall more than
40% of the total European population carries this mitochondrial variation. It can also be found in the Caucasus and Central Asian regions, though frequencies are considerably lower than that of Europe.
Haplogroup H most likely originated about 30,000 years ago probably in an area between the northern part of the Near East and the Caucasus mountain range, a natural border separating Europe and Asia. Populations carrying this variation subsequently expanded into Europe in association with the second Paleolithic expansion, around the time man began using fine blades to create projectile points and to shape stone tools.
Haplogroup H was also strongly involved in the late-glacial expansions from Ice Age refuges. The time period starting from about 20,000 years ago coincided with an Ice Age, making living conditions in the Northern Hemisphere inhospitable, if not impossible. Thus, the early Paleolithic populations of Northern and Central Europe either became extinct or retreated to the south of the continent and survived in several refuge areas, one of which localized in Iberia (Spain, Portugal) until temperatures progressively increased and the last Ice Age came to an end 13,000 years ago. It is not surprising to find more than 50% of the Basque population in northern Iberia with the H variation.
Phylogeography of H
More than twenty subclades of haplogroup H have been identified with several showing regional distributions. H1 and H3 are common in southwestern Europe, marking the expansion northward from the Iberian Peninsula (refuge) after the end of last Ice Age. Intriguingly, H1 is frequent (around 30% of haplogroup H) both in Western Europeans and Slavic-speaking Eastern Europeans.
H5, another subgroup of haplogroup H, appeared less than
8,000 years ago. It is found in about 4% of Europeans, with its highest frequencies spread across the Central European plain.
H5a, a subclade within H5, is evenly distributed at low levels across Europe, but is absent from the Caucasus and Near East regions, suggesting a
strictly European origin. H5 (excluding the H5a subclade) is also frequently (at more than 8%) found in Western Caucasus regions, which include the present-day Balkan and Georgian areas.
The H13 subclade is most frequently found in northern Georgia, spreading northward into neighboring regions of the Russian Republic. Additionally, the H20 and H21 subclades are most often found in the Georgian area, with lower frequencies spreading south into the populations of present-day Syria and Jordan.
The H2 and H4 subclades are very common in the Arabian Peninsula and together with H6 and H18, comprise about half of the Arabian H lineages. H6, in particular, is even more frequent in Central and Inner Asia, comprising 21% of the total haplogroup H population in these regions.
The remaining subgroups of haplogroup H occur at lower frequencies and cannot yet be definitively matched with any geographical patterns.
Famous Members of Haplogroup H
Marie Antoinette and her maternal ancestors back to Bertha von Putelendorf (died 1190) belonged to haplogroup H. If genealogical pedigrees are correct, maternal relatives such as Maria Theresa of Austria and Marie-Louise of Austria (second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte) would also have been haplogroup H.
Genetic studies on the remains of the Romanov family indicate that Tsarina
Alexandra, the wife of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II, belonged to haplogroup H. Thus, her children and all ancestors along her maternal line back to her last recorded ancestor,
Blanca Nunez de Lara (born approximately 1317) belonged to haplogroup H. This would include
Queen Victoria and her many relatives.
Historical sources cite that Luke the Evangelist was born in Antioch (the Roman province of Syria) and died in Thebes (Greece) around 150 A.D. Luke’s body was first buried in Constantinople, and was later transferred to Padua, Italy. Genetic analysis of remains believed to be those of Luke revealed he was a member of haplogroup H. Moreover the comparison with Syrian and Greek populations revealed that he was likely of Syrian origin.
Lastly, the Cambridge Reference Sequence CRS, the human mitochondrial sequence to which all other sequences are compared, belongs to haplogroup H, in particular to the subclade H2.
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