Description

Mitochondrial haplogroup D is one of the most widespread and diverse M-derived lineages in East Asia and northeastern Siberia, and one of the five founding maternal haplogroups of Native Americans. D4 is the predominant subclade in Japan, Korea, and China, while D1 is characteristic of Native American populations. D is common among Tibetans and Mongolians, and its distribution across East Asia, Siberia, and the Americas reflects a deep connection to the Upper Paleolithic migrations that peopled these regions.

Interesting Fact

Haplogroup D4 is the single most common mtDNA haplogroup in Japan, carried by approximately 30% of Japanese women — a reflection of the ancient Jomon and subsequent Yayoi migrations that shaped the Japanese maternal gene pool over the past 3,000 years.

Distribution by Ethnicity

Ethnic distributionRegionFrequencySample
TibetansCentral Asia / East Asia
45%
n=300
MongoliansCentral Asia
40%
n=400
JapaneseEast Asia
30%
n=1000
KoreansEast Asia
28%
n=600
Han ChineseEast Asia
20%
n=2000
Native Americans (average)Americas
10%
n=800

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References

  1. Tamm et al. (2007) — Beringian standstill and spread of Native American founders. PLOS ONE 2(9), e829.
  2. Tanaka et al. (2004) — Mitochondrial genome variation in eastern Asia and the peopling of Japan. Genome Research 14(10a), 1832–1850.
  3. Forster et al. (1996) — Origin and evolution of Native American mtDNA variation. American Journal of Human Genetics 59(4), 935–945.