S29 or R1b1c9b

S29 or R1b1c9b

John McEwan

25^th June 2006 updated 22^nd July 2006

Background

This SNP defines a sub-subclade of R1b1c. Only sparse information about this SNP has been released due to commercial constraints. Ethnoancestry, announced the availability of this SNP on 13^th December 2005. At the time of announcement they stated it had been observed twice in two samples of British origin (probably English). These results are not publicly available. At the time they publicly thanked Gareth Henson in its development and referred to searching NCBI dbSNP, so it can be assumed that it is present, but uncharacterized, within that database. For details about its current position in the Y chromosome haplogroup tree and other information see www.isogg.org/tree .

Occurrence

In February 2006 the first publicly announced S29+ individual was released whose ancestors reputedly came from England (Ysearch ID F323W, Lovelace). In May 2006 the second was identified (7RCAT, Foster) who traces his ancestry to Durham county, England from the 12^th century. In private correspondence he indicated the family name was Forster until the mid 20^th century. He also indicates that there is some speculation that the earliest Angles came to Durham in the 6^th century AD as an overspill from Norfolk and Suffolk (East Anglia). A third person (Rust BVB6V) whose ancestry traces to Norfolk was identified in July. The distribution suggests south east and north east England, but we need many more tested to make more definitive statements. Forster was used instead of Foster due to known surname history.

Figure 1. 1881 geographical distribution (frequency) for the three S29+ individuals surnames, note Forster used instead of Foster and private correspondence suggests Lovelace has multiple origins and Dorset is NOT the origin of the S29+ individual.

To date only 3 out of 44 individuals have tested S29 positive and of these: 0/1 has tested positive in the M167+ subclade, 0/2 have tested positive in the M222+ subclade, 0/2 in the S28+ subclade, 3/20 (15%) in the S21+ subclade, and 0/21 in R1b1c(xM167,M222, S21,S28). These results clearly confirm its position as a significant subclade within the R1b1c9 (S21+).

The three positive individuals are at a genetic distance of up to 7 from the modal and up to 13 from each other. All are located within the R1bSTR3 haplotype cluster that is largely consistent with Frisian 2 or R1b-F2 group subsequently defined by Ken Nordtvedt. The maximum genetic distance between the two most extreme individuals suggests an age for S29+ of more than several thousand years.

For further information about this cluster see:

Modal values of markers

Stated origins of cluster members

Cluster variability and estimated age

R1bSTR3 cluster members from phase 3 analysis

Ken Nordtvedt description

Specifically, the cluster is distinguished by a DYS390=23 a DYS464 = 15-15-17-18 YCA-II =19, 22 and several other attributes. It makes up about 3% of England R1b and 2% of Western Continental Europe R1b. The R1bSTR3 cluster is not entirely homogeneous, because at least one member has turned out to be S21-. The tables below compare the haplotype modal of the three individuals with the individuals and various relevant groups.

Summary

It is tempting fate to extrapolate based on only 3 reported S29+ individuals. However, the current situation is:

· S29+ is a confirmed subclade of R1bc9 and is correctly placed on the Y chromosome ISOGG tree

· It is at least several thousand years old, but any attempt at aging it will require additional testing

· It appears to date to be coincident with a haplogroup cluster called R1bSTR3 or F2

· The three people publicly reported as S29+ are English and based on the knowledge about their parent clade S21+ it is reasonable to speculate a northern European origin for S29+. It must be remembered that Ethnoancestry has also reported that two other British (probably English) individuals were S29+ as well.

· The SNP is likely to present at reasonable frequency in the R1b population with R1bSTR3 making up 2% of R1b.

Ysearch Database Configuration - DNA Results Comparison

D
Y
S
3
9
3

D
Y
S
3
9
0

D
Y
S
1
9
/
3
9
4

D
Y
S
3
9
1

D
Y
S
3
8
5
a

D
Y
S
3
8
5
b

D
Y
S
4
2
6

D
Y
S
3
8
8

D
Y
S
4
3
9

D
Y
S
3
8
9
-
1

D
Y
S
3
9
2

D
Y
S
3
8
9
-
2

D
Y
S
4
5
8

D
Y
S
4
5
9
a

D
Y
S
4
5
9
b

D
Y
S
4
5
5

D
Y
S
4
5
4

D
Y
S
4
4
7

D
Y
S
4
3
7

D
Y
S
4
4
8

D
Y
S
4
4
9

D
Y
S
4
6
4
a

D
Y
S
4
6
4
b

D
Y
S
4
6
4
c

D
Y
S
4
6
4
d

D
Y
S
4
6
0

G
A
T
A
-
H
4

Y
C
A
-
I
I
a

Y
C
A
-
I
I
b

D
Y
S
4
5
6

D
Y
S
6
0
7

D
Y
S
5
7
6

D
Y
S
5
7
0

C
D
Y
a

C
D
Y
b

D
Y
S
4
4
2

D
Y
S
4
3
8

S29_modal

7RCAT_Foster

BVB6V_Rust

F323W_Lovelace

R1bSTR3

R1bSTR22Frisian

R1bSTR27

R1bSTR32

R1b

R1a

Distance from reference:

Zero

One

Two

Three+

Genetic Distance

S
2
9
_
m
o
d
a
l

7
R
C
A
T
_
F
o
s
t
e
r

B
V
B
6
V
_
R
u
s
t

F
3
2
3
W
_
L
o
v
e
l
a
c
e

R
1
b
S
T
R
3

R
1
b
S
T
R
2
2
F
r
i
s
i
a
n

R
1
b
S
T
R
2
7

R
1
b
S
T
R
3
2

R
1
b

R
1
a