I just took the Genographic Project's mtDNA test and my results came back Haplogroup L3 and Subclade L3*. I'm not really familiar with genetic lingo so I'm kind of wondering what all of this means. I know that there are quite a few intelligent folks on this board who seem to know a lot about genetics. Can anyone help me or point me somewhere where I can find more information? Thanks!
Posted by The Explorer (Member # 14778) on :
L3* simply means that the said clade is some unassigned L3 clade, where the pre-existing L3 sub-clades are concerned, or you could put it this way: it could mean that its microsatellite and SNP markers don't match those downstream sub-clades. If the examined key loci are deemed to be at the "ancestral" state, upon examining nucleotide clusters in pre-existing sub-clades, then this is usually interpreted as indicative of a basal marker, nearer to the root of a lineage than the other, more well-established sub-clades. The phylogenetic state of key loci [usually identified with SNPs] are usually discerned from a wide inter-lineage sequencing, and comparing them against one another thereof. My hunch is that additional markers should make the phylogenetic stage of your "sub-clade" clearer, besides the basic L3 defining positions.
Posted by Whatbox (Member # 10819) on :