Haplogroup K (mtDNA)

Haplogroup K
Possible time of origin	~12,000 years
Possible place of origin	Western Asia
Ancestor	U8b'K
Descendants	K1, K2
Defining mutations	3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311

Haplogroup K is a (mtDNA) haplogroup. It is defined by the HVR1 mutations 16224C and 16311C.

Haplogroup K is believed to have originated around 12,000 years ago in Western Asia, quite likely in the Caucasus.

It is the most common subclade of haplogroup U8b, with an estimated age of c. 12,000 years BP.

Haplogroup K appears in West Eurasia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and South Asia, and in populations with such an ancestry. Haplogroup K is found in approximately 10% of native Europeans. Overall mtDNA Haplogroup K is found in about 6% of the population of Europe and the Near East, but it is more common in certain of these populations. Approximately 16% of the Druze of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, belong to haplogroup K. It is also found among 8% of Palestinians. Additionally, K reaches a level of 17% in Kurdistan.

Approximately 32% of people with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry are in haplogroup K. This high percentage points to a genetic bottleneck occurring some 100 generations ago. Ashkenazi mtDNA K clusters into three subclades seldom found in non-Jews: K1a1b1a, K1a9, and K2a2a. Thus it is possible to detect three individual female ancestors, who were thought to be from a Hebrew/Levantine mtDNA pool, whose descendants lived in Europe. Recent studies suggest these clades originate from Western Europe.

The average of European K frequency is 5.6%. K appears to be highest in the Morbihan (17.5%) and Périgord-Limousin (15.3%) regions of France, and in Norway and Bulgaria (13.3%). The level is 12.5% in Belgium, 11% in Georgia and 10% in Austria and Great Britain.

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