Grandmother was a "Helena"

My father received the results of the analysis of his mitochondrial DNA, representing his matrilineal heritage.

The results classify his mtDNA in haplogroup H11, a branch of haplogroup H represented by “Helena” in The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes.

Approximately 40% of European mtDNA are members of haplogroup H. Haplogroup H11 is an uncommon branch of haplogroup H and is one of the oldest branches of H. H11 can be found in the Near East as well as Europe.

Some recent journal articles discussing haplogroup H include:

Achilli A., Rengo C., Magri C., Battaglia V., Olivieri A., Scozzari R., Cruciani F., Zeviani M., Briem E., Carelli V., Moral P., Dugoujon J., Roostalu U., Loogví¤li E., Kivisild T., Bandelt H., Richards M., Villems R., Santachiara-Benerecetti A., Semino O., Torroni A .  The molecular dissection of mtDNA haplogroup H confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge was a major source for the European gene pool.  Am J Hum Gen 2004 75:910-918.

Pereira L., Richards M., Goios A., Alonso A., Albarrí¡n C., Garcia O., Behar D., Gölge M., Hatina J., Al-Gazali L.,  Bradley D., Macaulay V., Amorim A .  High-resolution mtDNA evidence for the late-glacial resettlement of Europe from an Iberian refugium .  Genome Res. 2005 15:19-24.

Roostalu U, Kutuev I, Loogví¤li EL, Metspalu E, Tambets K, Reidla M, Khusnutdinova EK, Usanga E, Kivisild T, Villems R. Origin and expansion of haplogroup H, the dominant human mitochondrial DNA lineage in West Eurasia: the Near Eastern and Caucasian perspective . Â Mol Biol Evol. 2007 24:436-48.

With these results, I now have the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups for both of my grandmothers and the Y-DNA haplogroups for both of my grandfathers:

• Paternal grandfather’s Y-DNA: Haplogroup R1b1b2a1a (tracks with the Dańko surname)
• Maternal grandfather’s Y-DNA: Haplogroup R1a1 (tracks with the Niedziałkowski surname)
• Paternal grandmother’s mtDNA: Haplogroup H11 (Bryan Sykes’ “Helena”)
• Maternal grandmother’s mtDNA: Haplogroup W1 (a sister of Bryan Sykes’ “Xenia”)

The sources of the DNA for these results were not my grandparents, all of whom passed on long ago. I supplied the DNA sample that represents my paternal grandfather’s Y-DNA and my maternal grandmother’s mtDNA. My Niedzialkowski cousins supplied the samples that represents my maternal grandfather’s Y-DNA, and my father supplied the sample that represents my paternal grandmother’s mtDNA.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko