W1 is defined by the 07864 coding region mutation; 32% of W's are of this subgroup, making it the largest. If HVR2 results are available, W1 may be identified by not having the 00194 mutation, which differentiates it from all other W subgroups. It is not possible to identify a W1 with an HVR1 test alone, unless there is a unique HVR1 mutation only associated with W1, or if the testing service has placed the result in W3 (based on the 13263 coding region mutation).
W1 was the second major W subgroup to emerge, about 13,000 years ago in central Asia. Six major subgroups, W1a through W1f, developed. W1c and W1e emerged about 10,000 years ago. Their distribution indicates that W1c entered Europe and Central India with steppe pastoralists, whereas W1e was spread only to Europe by Neolithic agricultural folk. W1a and W1b emerged only around 2,000 years ago, among Finnish groups. W1d and W1f have only a few representatives each so far, coming from Iraq and Austria-Czech Republic, respectively.
How to Read These Phylogenetic Trees
W1 consists of the following major subgroups:
- The purely Finnish types: W1a (defined by coding region mutations
05495 12669); and W1b (defined by coding region mutations 04928 and
09612, and HVR2 mutation 00227). These are almost entirely confined to
Finland, with a few results in adjacent areas of neighboring countries
(Norway, Sweden, Russia). Both are young subgroups. W1a diversified
less than 2,000 years ago, with W1b being a few thousand years older.
- W1c (defined by coding region mutations 14148, and having no HVR1
mutation 16292 and no HVR mutation 194 in HVR2). This group seems to
have been spread with the steppe horse culture, extending to Uzbekistan
and Turkmenistan in the east, to India in the south, and then through
Russia to Poland in the east. Many of the European results are Polish
Roma, possibly indicating the European presence of W1c was brought from
India to Europe in the Middle Ages. One individual was Ashkenazim
Jewish.
- W1d, defined by coding region mutation 08383, 09278, and 14981.
This is so far represented by a single individual, an Israeli Jew of
Iraqi origin. The person has numerous additional changes, including
loss of 16292 in HVR1, 16260 and 16298 in HVR1, and 00189, 00194, 00200
in HVR2. There is so far only one possible match, an HVR1-only result
from Iraq as well, with the loss of 16292 and 16298 changes, but not
the 16260, from Iraqi Kurdistan. There are no apparent ancestral types
elsewhere.
- W1e, defined by the 08659 and 08887 coding region mutations, and
having the 16295 mutation in HVR1. The three coding region examples are
all from Finland; however the type seems to have originated in central
Asia and migrated into Europe with the Neolithic agriculturalists. The
basic type (16223T 16292T 16295T 16519C in HVR1 and 073G 189G 195C 204C
207A 263G in HVR2) is found in Kyrgyzstan, and then Finland, and the
European maritime states (Spain - Italy - Slovenia). A descendant with
a 16324 HVR1 mutation seems to have entered Europe up the Danube valley
(Romania - Slovakia), and then again found in maritime states (Britain
- Portugal - Spain). The major descendant branch, with an 0119 mutation
in HVR2, again looks to have entered Europe through the Danube
(Macedonia - Slovenia - Austria - Germany), then to Sweden and Ireland
(via the Norsemen?) Descendants from these (00152) originated in
Germany and then extended into Poland; (00207) originated in Germany,
and then to Spain and to Cuba; and (0118) originated in Austria and
then extended to Ireland.
The HVS1-only network hides these descent lines visible in HVR2; but the larger number of samples shows particular HVR1 mutations associated with certain migration paths, and reinforces the migration path through the Danube valley.
- W1f, defined by the 09950 mutation in the coding region. So far only three coding region results have been reported; one branch in Austria has a 16275 mutation in HVR1; the other branch, in the Czech Republic, has a 16249 mutation. Unusually, no HVR1 only or HVR1+2 results have been reported with these patterns.
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