Ina Clan - mtDNA Haplogroup B

Mitochondrial DNA (or mtDNA for short) is present in every cell in the body, and it remains virtually unchanged (aside from random mutations which may occur every 10,000 years or so) as it passes from mother to daughter. By quantifying and analyzing the mutations of this relatively stable circle of DNA, Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford and founder of Oxford Ancestors, was able to determine that nearly all modern Europeans descend from one of seven "clan mothers" who lived at different times during the Ice Age. He named these women Xenia, Ursula, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrina, and Jasmine; and his findings were made popular in his book, "The Seven Daughters of Eve".

In addition to those seven women, Sykes also discovered 29 others from whom the rest of the world's population descend. Of those 29, just four are the ancestresses of the earliest colonizers of North and South America. Their names are Aiyana/Ai, Ina, Chochmingwu/Chie, and Djigonasee/Sachi. The haplogroups used to identify each "clan mother" are based upon the grouping of genetic sequences (known as "polymorphisms") into distinct families. Ina's clan are identified by Haplogroup B (the B clade of the human family tree). Unlike the other three, Ina's clan is known to have populated not only North and South America, but the Pacific Islands and possibly Madagascar as well. Her name comes form the Polynesian mythological figure "Ina", who appears on the banknotes of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands riding on the back of a shark to the island Mangaia. She is representative of the "first woman" and is also often personified in the moon

All of these women are daughters of the 'Mitochondrial Eve', a single East African woman who lived approximately 150,000 years ago and from whom all of humanity descend. Obviously, she was not the only woman alive during her time, but only her maternal lineage has survived unbroken to the present day.

After coming out of Africa, modern humans first spread to Asia following two main routes - a Southern one and a Northern one. The Southern one is represented by macro-haplogroup M which radiated some 30,000–57,600 yrs BP (before present) and is overwhelmingly present in India [1] and Eastern Asia where it possibly originated and expanded as haplogroups C, D, G, and others [2].

The other major branch that left Africa, the Northern one, is represented by macro-haplogroup N. It has a lower bound of 43,000–53,000 yrs BP, and spread into at least three main clusters. The first cluster comprises haplogroups X and A, with only a shared mutation between them and different geographic distributions (A is widespread in Asia, X is mainly restricted to Europe). The second cluster groups minor haplogroups W, I, and N1b (each of which is present in low frequencies in Europe, the Near East, and the Caucasus). The last cluster radiated around 39,000–52,000 yrs BP and gave rise to four major ancestral clusters: Two of them, B and F, derive from N through a common ancestor with most Europeans - phylogenetic node R [3]. The others originated haplogroups J, T, H, V, K, and U, which expanded from the Near East-Caucasus area. [4]

Haplogroup B expanded from Central Asia to Eastern Asia, reaching Japan and the Southeastern Pacific Archipelagos. And, unlike previously believed, it is also found in some Siberian populations. [3, 5, 6]. From there, a substantial number of Ina's descendants then reached North America, either with the other colonists around 13,000 yrs BP via the Bering land bridge, or in a sea-borne colonization along the coast (or both).

Click the map below to see a graphic representation of various mtDNA migrations patterns provided by MITOMAP: A Human Mitochondrial Genome Database, or visit the site directly by clicking here.

For a slide-show representation of migration patterns, visit the University of Cambridge Molecular Genetics Lab Research page by clicking here.

[1] Kivisild, T, Bamshad, MJ, Kaldma, K, Metspalu, M, Metspalu, E, Reidla, M, Laos, S, Parik, J, Watkins, WS, Dixon, ME, et al.: Deep common ancestry of Indian and western-Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages. Curr. Biol. 1999, 9:1331-1334.[PubMed]

[2] Ballinger SW, Schurr TG, Torroni A, Gan YY, Hodge JA, Hassan K, Chen K-H, & Wallace DC: Southeast Asian mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals genetic continuity of ancient Mongoloid migrations Genetics 1992, 130:139-152.[PubMed]

[3] Kivisild, T. The origins of southern and western Eurasian populations: an mtDNA study. [PHd Thesis]. See also: Tolk H., Barac L., Pericic M., Klaric I. M., Janicijevic M., Campbell H., Rudan I., Kivisild T., Villems R., and Rudan P. The evidence of mtDNA haplogroup F in a European population and its ethnohistoric implications. European Journal of Human Genetics (2001) 9, 717-723. [Abstract]

[4] Nicole Maca-Meyer, Ana M. González, José M. Larruga, Carlos Flores, and Vicente M. Cabrera: Major genomic mitochondrial lineages delineate early human expansions. BMC Genet. 2001;2(1):13. Epub 2001 Aug 13. [PubMed]

[5] Horai, S & Hayasaka, K: Intraspecific nucleotide sequence differences in the major noncoding region of human mitochondrial DNA. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 1990, 46:828-842.[PubMed]

[6] Melton T, Peterson R, Redd A, Saha N, Sofro ASM, Martison J, & Stoneking M. Polynesian genetic affinities with Southeast Asian populations as identified by mtDNA analysis. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 1995, 57:403-414.[PubMed]

Haplogroup B is highest among Polynesians (95%). It is present in Tibetans, Koreans, Japanese, and Mongolians [7] at moderate levels, and is widely spread throughout Southern Siberian populations, although at lower levels [8]. Researchers have published several studies detailing the population frequency of this Haplogroup in Asian populations. These include the following:

Hurles ME, Irven C, Nicholson J, Taylor PG, Santos FR, Loughlin J, Jobling MA, Sykes BC. European Y-chromosomal lineages in Polynesians: a contrast to the population structure revealed by mtDNA. Am J Hum Genet. 1998 Dec;63(6):1793-806. [Full Publication]
Kivisild T, Kaldma K, Metspalu M, Parik J, Papiha S, Villems R. The Place of the Indian mtDNA Variants in the Global Network of Maternal Lineages and the Peopling of the Old World. Genomic Diversity. 1999; 135-152. [Full Publication]
Quintana-Murci L, Chaix R, Wells RS, Behar DM, Sayar H, Scozzari R, Rengo C, Al-Zahery N, Semino O, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, Coppa A, Ayub Q, Mohyuddin A, Tyler-Smith C, Mehdi SQ, Torroni A, and McElreavey K. Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor. [Full Study]
Schurr TG. Molecular Genetic Diversity of Indigenous Siberians: Implications for Ancient DNA Studies of Cis-Baikal Archeological Populations.(2004). [Full Paper]

In Chile, Haplogroup B is most frequent in the North, among the Aymaras (57%). [9] In the Quechua-speaking Andean population from Peru, it reaches 54%. But, it is lowest in the North Amazon and it is absent from some Southern populations [10]. The dominance of Haplogroup B is also manifested in numerous North American populations, mostly in the Southwest, such as the Kiliwa (100%) and Jemez Pueblo (89%), as indicated in the following studies:

To see a graphic representation of various mtDNA distribution patterns provided by the McDonald Group of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Chemical Sciences, click here.

[7] Brown MD, Hosseini SH, Torroni A, Bandelt HJ, Allen JC, Schurr TG, Scozzari R, Cruciani F, Wallace DC. mtDNA Haplogroup X: An Ancient Link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?. Am. J. Hum. Genet., 63:1852-1861, 1998. [PubMed]

[8] Derenko MV, Grzybowski T, Malyarchuk BA, Dambueva IK, Denisova GA, Czarny J, Dorzhu CM, Kakpakov VT, Miscicka-Sliwka D, Wozniak M, Zakharov IA.. Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in South Siberia. Ann Hum Genet. 2003 Sep;67(Pt 5):391-411. [PubMed]

[9] M.P. Carvallo, F. Rivera, C. Morales, P. Rocco, M. Moraga, J.F. Miquel, F. Nervi, F. Rothhammer. Genetic contribution of mtDNA and Y chromosome Amerindian haplotypes, to aboriginal and mixed Chilean populations. 2000. [ASHG Abstract]

[10] Rodriguez-Delfin, Rubin-de-Celis, Zago. Genetic Diversity in an Andean Population from Peru and Regional Migration Patterns of Amerindians in South America: Data from Y Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA. Human Heredity 2001;51:97-106. [HH Abstract]

[11] R.S. Malhi, J.A. Eshleman, J.A. Greenberg, D.A. Weiss, B.A. Shultz-Shook, F.A. Kaestle, J.G. Lorenz, B.M. Kemp, J.R. Johnson, D.G. Smith. The Structure of Diversity Within New World Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups: Implications for the Prehistory of North America. Am. J. Hum. Gent. 70:000-000, 2002. [Complete Study]

For more information regarding Ina Clan Hrv1/Hrv2 mutations, visit the sequence information and database section. To add your own, send them via email by clicking here. Please include your tribe/national affiliation. Your identity/email will not be disclosed without your permission and a random # will be assigned to you. Thanks.

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Ina Clan - Haplogroup B