Haplogroup O-M122 (also known as Haplogroup O2 (formerly Haplogroup O3)) is an Eastern Eurasian Y-chromosome haplogroup. The lineage ranges across Southeast Asia and East Asia, where it dominates the paternal lineages with extremely high frequencies. Certain subclades also have a significant presence in Central Asia, South Asia (e.g. Nepal, Northeast India), and Oceania.
This lineage is a descendant haplogroup of haplogroup O-M175.
Origins Researchers believe that O-M122 first appeared in Southeast Asia approximately 25,000-30,000 years ago, or roughly between 30,000 and 35,000 years ago according to more recent studies. In a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations, results indicate that the O-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. Microsatellite data show that the O-M122 haplotypes are more diverse in Southeast Asia than those in northern East Asia. This suggests a southern origin of the O-M122 mutation to be likely.
It was part of the settlement of East Asia. However, the prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations and the place of the O-M122 lineage in these migrations is ambivalent.
Distribution East Asia Haplogroup O-M122 is found in approximately 53.35% of all modern Chinese males (with frequency ranging from 30/101=29.7% among Pinghua-speaking Hans in Guangxi to 110/148=74.3% among Hans in Changting, Fujian ), about 40% of Manchu, Chinese Mongolian, Korean, and about 33.3% of Filipino males, Vietnamese males, about 10.5% to 55.6% of Malaysian males, about 10% (4/39 Guide County, Qinghai) to 45% (22/49 Zhongdian County, Yunnan) of Tibetan males, about 20% (10/50 Shuangbai, northern Yunnan) to 44% (8/18 Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan) of Yi males, about 25% of Zhuang and Indonesian males, and about 16% to 20% of Japanese males. The distribution of Haplogroup O-M122 stretches far into Asia (approx. 40% of Dungans, 30% of Salars, 28% of Bonan, 24% of Dongxiang, 18% to 22.8% of Mongolian citizens in Ulaanbaatar, 11%-15.4% of Khalkha Mongolians, but also as high as 31.1%, 12% of Uyghurs, 9% of Kazakhs, but in the Naiman of Kazakhs 65.81%, 6.8% of Kalmyks (17.1% of Khoshuud, 6.1% of Dörwöd, 3.3% of Torguud, 0% of Buzawa), 6.2% of Altaians, 5.3% of Kyrgyz, about 5.2% of Uzbeks (2.4% of Uzbeks in Afghanistan, 4.1% of Uzbeks in Uzbekistan, 4.3% of Uzbeks in Xinjiang, 5.1% of Uzbeks in Xorazm Region of Uzbekistan, 5.8% of Uzbeks in the Tashkent area of Uzbekistan, 11.9% of Uzbeks in Fergana Region of Uzbekistan, 20% of Uzbeks in Turkistan Region of Kazakhstan) and 4.0% of Buryats.
Modern northern Han Chinese Y haplogroups and mtdna match those of ancient northern Han Chinese ancestors 3,000 years ago from the Hengbei archeological site. 89 ancient samples were taken. Y haplogroups O3a, O3a3, M, O2a, Q1a1, and O* were all found in Hengbei samples. Three men who lived in the Neolithic era are the ancestors of 40% of Han Chinese, with their Y haplogroups being subclades of O3a-M324 and they are estimated to have lived 6,800 years ago, 6,500 years ago and 5,400 years ago.
The East Asian O3-M122 Y chromosome Haplogroup is found in large quantities in other Muslims close to the Hui people like Dongxiang, Bo'an and Salar. The majority of Tibeto-Burmans, Han Chinese, and Ningxia and Liaoning Hui share paternal Y chromosomes of East Asian origin which are unrelated to Middle Easterners and Europeans. In contrast to distant Middle Eastern and Europeans whom the Muslims of China are not related to, East Asians, Han Chinese, and most of the Hui and Dongxiang of Linxia share more genes with each other. This indicates that native East Asian populations converted to Islam and were culturally assimilated to these ethnicities and that Chinese Muslim populations are mostly not descendants of foreigners as claimed by some accounts while only a small minority of them are.
South Asia Haplogroup O2-M122 is primarily found among the males of Tibeto-Burmese ancestry in the Himalayas and Northeast India. In Arunachal Pradesh, it is found at 89% among Adi, 82% among Apatani, and 94% among Nishi, while the Naga people show it at 100%. In Meghalaya, 59.2% (42/71) of a sample of Garos and 31.7% (112/353) of a sample of Khasis have been found to belong to O-M122. In Nepal, Tamang people present a very high frequency of O-M122 (39/45 = 86.7%), while much lower percentages of Newar (14/66 = 21.2%) and the general population of Kathmandu (16/77 = 20.8%) belong to this haplogroup. A study published in 2009 found O-M122 in 52.6% (30/57, including 28 members of O-M117 and two members of O-M134(xM117)) of a sample of Tharus from a village in Chitwan District of south-central Nepal, 28.6% (22/77, all O-M117) of a sample of Tharus from another village in Chitwan District, and 18.9% (7/37, all O-M117) of a sample of Tharus from a village in Morang District of southeastern Nepal. In contrast, the same study found O-M122 in only one individual in a sample of non-Tharu Hindus collected in Chitwan District (1/26 = 3.8% O-M134(xM117)), one tribal individual from Andhra Pradesh, India (1/29 = 3.4% O-M117), and one individual in a sample of Hindus from New Delhi, India (1/49 = 2.0% O-M122(xM134)).
Southeast Asia Among all the populations of East and Southeast Asia, Haplogroup O-M122 is most closely associated with those that speak a Sinitic, Tibeto-Burman, or Hmong–Mien language. Haplogroup O-M122 comprises about 50% or more of the total Y-chromosome variation among the populations of each of these language families. The Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman language families are generally believed to be derived from a common Sino-Tibetan protolanguage, and most linguists place the homeland of the Sino-Tibetan language family somewhere in northern China. The Hmong–Mien languages and cultures, for various archaeological and ethnohistorical reasons, are also generally believed to have derived from a source somewhere north of their current distribution, perhaps in northern or central China. The Tibetans, however, despite the fact that they speak a language of the Tibeto-Burman language family, have high percentages of the otherwise rare haplogroups D-M15 and D3, which are also found at much lower frequencies among the members of some other ethnic groups in East Asia and Central Asia.
Haplogroup O-M122 has been implicated as a diagnostic genetic marker of the Austronesian expansion when it is found in populations of insular Southeast Asia and Oceania. It appears at moderately high frequencies in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Its distribution in Oceania is mostly limited to the traditionally Austronesian culture zones, chiefly Polynesia (approx. 25% to 32.5% ). O-M122 is found at generally lower frequencies in coastal and island Melanesia, Micronesia, and Taiwanese aboriginal tribes (18% to 27.4% of Micronesians), and 5% of Melanesians, albeit with reduced frequencies of most subclades.
Haplogroup O-M122* Y-chromosomes, which are not defined by any identified downstream markers, are actually more common among certain non-Han Chinese populations than among Han Chinese ones, and the presence of these O-M122* Y-chromosomes among various populations of Central Asia, East Asia, and Oceania is more likely to reflect a very ancient shared ancestry of these populations rather than the result of any historical events. It remains to be seen whether Haplogroup O-M122* Y-chromosomes can be parsed into distinct subclades that display significant geographical or ethnic correlations.
Subclade Distribution
Paragroup O-M122* Paragroup O2*-M122(xO2a-P197) Y-DNA is quite rare, having been detected only in 2/165 = 1.2% of a sample of Han Chinese in a pool of samples from mainland China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia (n=581), 8/641 = 1.2% of a sample of Balinese in a pool of samples from western Indonesia (n=960), and 7/350 = 2.0% of a sample of males from Sumba in a pool of samples from eastern Indonesia (n=957). In the same study, O2*-M122(xO2a-P197) Y-DNA was not observed in a pool of samples from Oceania (n=182).
In 2005, Chinese researchers published a paper reporting the detection of O2*-M122(xO2a-M324) Y-DNA in 1.6% (8/488) of a pool of seven samples of Han Chinese (3/64 = 4.7% Sichuan, 2/98 = 2.0% Zibo, Shandong, 1/60 = 1.7% Inner Mongolia, 1/81 = 1.2% Yunnan, 1/86 = 1.2% Laizhou, Shandong, 0/39 Guangxi, 0/60 Gansu). O2*-M122(xO2a-M324) Y-DNA also was detected in the following samples of ethnic minorities in China: 5.9% (1/17) Jingpo from Yunnan, 4.3% (2/47) Zhuang from Yunnan, 4.1% (2/49) Lisu from Yunnan, 3.2% (1/31) Wa from Yunnan, 2.6% (1/39) Zhuang from Guangxi, 2.5% (2/80) Bai from Yunnan, 2.4% (1/41) Hani from Yunnan, 2.3% (2/88) Lahu from Yunnan, 2.1% (1/47) Yi from Yunnan, 2.1% (1/48) Miao from Yunnan, 1.5% (2/132) Dai from Yunnan, 1.0% (1/105) Miao from Hunan, and 0.9% (2/225) Yao from Guangxi.
O2*-M122(xO2a-M324) Y-DNA has been found as a singleton (1/156 = 0.6%) in a sample from Tibet. It also has been found as a singleton in a sample of nineteen members of the Chin people in Chin State, Myanmar. Published online 27 November 2013.
In a paper published in 2011, Korean researchers have reported finding O2*-M122(xO2a-M324) Y-DNA in the following samples: 5.9% (3/51) Beijing Han, 3.1% (2/64) Filipino, 2.1% (1/48) Vietnamese, 1.7% (1/60) Yunnan Han, 0.4% (2/506) Korean, including 1/87 from Jeju and 1/110 from Seoul-Gyeonggi. In another study published in 2012, Korean researchers have found O-M122(xM324) Y-DNA in 0.35% (2/573) of a sample from Seoul; however, no individual belonging to O-M122(xM324) was observed in a sample of 133 individuals from Daejeon.
In 2011, Chinese researchers published a paper reporting their finding of O2*-M122(xO2a-M324) Y-DNA in 3.0% (5/167) of a sample of Han Chinese with origins in East China (defined as consisting of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Anhui) and in 1.5% (1/65) of a sample of Han Chinese with origins in Southern China. O2* Y-DNA was not detected in their sample of Han Chinese with origins in Northern China (n=129).
In a paper published in 2012, O2*-M122(xO2a-P200) Y-DNA was found in 12% (3/25) of a sample of Lao males from Luang Prabang, Laos. O2* Y-DNA was not detected in this study's samples of Cham from Binh Thuan, Vietnam (n=59), Kinh from Hanoi, Vietnam (n=76), or Thai from northern Thailand (n=17).
Trejaut et al. (2014) found O2-M122(xO2a-M324) in 6/40 (15.0%) Siraya in Kaohsiung, 1/17 (5.9%) Sulawesi, 1/25 (4.0%) Paiwan, 2/55 (3.6%) Fujian Han, 1/30 (3.3%) Ketagalan, 2/60 (3.3%) Hoklo Taiwanese, 1/34 (2.9%) Taiwan Hakka, 1/38 (2.6%) Siraya in Hwalien, 5/258 (1.9%) miscellaneous Han volunteers in Taiwan, and 1/75 (1.3%) in a sample of the general population of Thailand.
Brunelli et al. (2017) found O2-M122(xO2a-M324) in 5/66 (7.6%) Tai Yuan, 1/91 (1.1%) Tai Lue, and 1/205 (0.5%) Khon Mueang in samples of the people of Northern Thailand.
O-M324
O-M121 O2a1a1a1a1-M121 is a subclade of O2a1-L127.1, parallel to O2a1b-M164 and O2a1c-JST002611.
In an early survey of Y-DNA variation in present-day human populations of the world, O-M121 was detected only in 5.6% (1/18) of a sample from Cambodia and Laos and in 5.0% (1/20) of a sample from China.
In a large study of 2,332 unrelated male samples collected from 40 populations in East Asia (and especially Southwest China), O-M121/DYS257 Y-DNA was detected only in 7.1% (1/14) of a sample of Cambodians and in 1.0% (1/98) of a sample of Han Chinese from Zibo, Shandong.