mtDNA haplogroup U4 project (Ulrike)

Project Background

Welcome to the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U4 project! Haplogroup U4 (Ulrike) is a small Indo-European haplogroup that is particularly prevalent in Finland and Russia. It is found at low frequencies throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

Description of Ulrike from Bryan Sykes
The clan of Ulrike (German for Mistress of All) is not among the original "Seven Daughters of Eve" clans, but with just under 2% of Europeans among its members, it has a claim to being included among the numerically important clans. Ulrike lived about 18,000 years ago in the cold refuges of the Ukraine at the northern limits of human habitation. Though Ulrike's descendants are nowhere common, the clan is found today mainly in the east and north of Europe with particularly high concentrations in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.
(Source: www.oxfordancestors.com/content/view/35/55)

Membership

The project is open to everyone who has taken a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test with the Genographic Project, Family Tree DNA or one of the FTDNA affiliates (e.g., IGENEA), and whose results show that they belong to haplogroup U4 or one of its subclades. There is no fee to join the project, and no additional testing is required.

If you have tested with the Genographic Project you will first need to transfer your results to the Family Tree DNA database. Simply log in to your Genographic Project page, go to the section "What else can I do with my results", click on "Learn more" and follow the instructions.

If you have tested with another company and wish to re-test with Family Tree DNA, please contact the group administrators. A discount is available for those who have previously tested with Ancestry, Oxford Ancestors, DNA Heritage, Genebase or Relative Genetics. The administrators will supply a promotional form on request. The International Society of Genetic Genealogy have a chart on their website showing the differences in the mtDNA tests offered by the various companies which can be seen here.

Join the U4 mtDNA Project - in other languages

Currently, we have our "Join Request" in six languages (English, Русский, Deutsch, Français, Español and Italiano).

Click here to see these translations.

ISOGG

We encourage all our members to join the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). It is free to join and all members receive a free monthly e-mail newsletter. You will also be informed of events of interest in your locality. Further information can be found on the ISOGG website.

Useful links:

The U4 haplogroup blog

The Yahoo U4 haplogroup mailing list

Haplogroup U4 group on Facebook

Haplogroup U group on GenealogyWise

Ron Scott's mtDNA webpage

Ron Scott's phylogenetic tree for U4a (Internet Explorer only)

Ron Scott's phylogenetic tree for U4b-c (IE only)

Ron Scott's phylogenetic tree for U4d (IE only)

The Meaning of Your Mutations (a custom report by Ann Turner, M.D., for Ron Scott - hg U4b2a1a)

An interactive map showing the mtDNA peopling of the world

MitoMap

PhyloTree's mtDNA global tree

Charles Kerchner's mtDNA log

Ian Logan's haplogroup U4 webpage

Videos:

DNA channel on Roots Television.

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

Spencer Wells talks about the Genographic Project and the human family tree

An introduction to the Genographic Project

mtDNA tools:

Tom Glad's mtDNA Analysis Utility

BLASTING mtDNA Full Genome Sequence (FGS) Results

Mitowheel

Mitomaster

Scientific papers of particular relevance to haplogroup U4:

Malyarchuk B, Grzybowski T, Derenko M, Perkova M, Vanecek T, Lazur J, Gomolcak P, Tsybovsky I. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny in Eastern and Western Slavs. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2008 25(8):1651-1658. (Full article available online.)

Samara Rubinstein, Matthew C. Duuk, Omer Gokcumen, Sergey Zhadanov, Ludmila Osipova, Maggie Cocca, Nishi Mehta, Marina Gubina, Olga Posukh, Theodore G Schurr. Russian Old Believers: genetic consequences of their persecution and exile, as shown by mitochondrial DNA evidence (Report). Human Biology June 01, 2008. (Report available online.)

Kristiina Tambets. Dissertationes Biologicae Universitatis Tartuensis. Towards the understanding of post-glacial spread of human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups in Europe and beyond: a phylogeographic approach. Council of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Estonia, 2004. (Thesis available online.)

B. A. Malyarchuk. Differentiation of the Mitochondrial Subhaplogroup U4 in the Populations of Eastern Europe, Ural, and Western Siberia: Implication to the Genetic History of the Uralic Populations. Russian Journal of Genetics November 2004, Volume 40, Number 11. (Abstract and preview available online.)

Olga A. Derbeneva, Elena B. Starikovskaya, Douglas C. Wallace, and Rem I. Sukernik. Traces of Early Eurasians in the Mansi of Northwest Siberia Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis. American Journal of Human Genetics 2002 April; 70(4): 1009–1014. (Full article available online.)

Other scientific papers with references to U4:

Helena Malmström, M.Thomas P. Gilbert, Mark G. Thomas et al. Ancient DNA Reveals Lack of Continuity between Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Contemporary Scandinavians. Current Biology 2009 (article in press). (Abstract only available online.) A discussion can be found on Dienekes' Anthropology Blog. The article is also discussed on the GenomeWeb website. Eight U4 samples were included in the study.

B. Bramanti, M. G. Thomas, W. Haak et al. Genetic Discontinuity Between Local Hunter-Gatherers and Central Europe’s First Farmers. By (3 September 2009) Science [DOI: 10.1126/science.1176869] (Abstract only available online.) The article is reviewed on Dienekes Anthropology Blog. Dienekes comments: "Pre-farming populations seem to have been dominated by mtDNA haplogroup U". He quotes from the paper: "it is intriguing to note that 82% of our 22 hunter-gatherer individuals carried clade U (fourteen U5, two U4, and two unspecified U-types". The two U4 samples were from Bad Duerrenberg, Germany (c. 6850 BC) and Spiginas, Lithuania (c. 6350 BC). The paper states that "U4 types show frequencies between 1% and 5% in most parts of Europe, with Western Europe at the lower end of this range, and northeastern Europe and central Asia showing percentages in excess of 7%".

A. Achilli, C. Rengo, V. Battaglia et al. Saami and Berbers—An Unexpected Mitochondrial DNA Link. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2005, Volume 76, Issue 5, Pages 883-886. (Full article available online)

O. A. Derbeneva, E. B. Starikovskaya, N. V. Volodko, D. C. Wallace and R. I. Sukernik. Mitochondrial DNA variation in the Kets and Nganasans and its implications for the initial peopling of Northern Eurasia. Russian Journal of Genetics, Vol. 38, No. 11, 2002, pp.1316–1321. Translated from Genetika, Vol. 38, No. 11, 2002, pp.1554–1560. (Abstract and preview available online.)

Books:

The Seven Daughters of Eve, by Bryan Sykes, 2001. Hardcover: Bantam Press, London, 2001. Paperback : Corgi Books, 2002. US edition: W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 2001.

The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa by Stephen Oppenheimer. 2003. Hardcover: Carroll & Graf, New York, 2003. Paperback: Caroll & Graf, 2004.

Genealogical resources:

The Female Line: Researching Your Female Ancestors. By Margaret Ward. Paperback. Newbury, Berkshire, England: Countryside Books, 2003. A step by step guide to researching the female relatives within your family tree. Topics include the problems of name, women in the eyes of the law, and the historical roles of women both in the home and at work.

Who was your mother's mother's mother's mother? Researching matrilineal lines. An online lecture by Julie Helen Otto, a genealogist with the New England Historic Genealogical Society in America.

Geographical projects:

We encourage all our project members to join the appropriate geographical project wherever possible. A full list of geographical projects can be found on the Family Tree DNA website here. The projects which are of most relevance to the U4 project are listed below. There is no limit on the number of projects you can join at Family Tree DNA, but admission to a project is subject to approval by the project administrators.

Benelux mtDNA Project
(Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg)

Bulgarian DNA Project

British Isles DNA Projects
There are numerous projects for specific regions and counties in the British Isles. A full list of geographical projects for the British Isles can be found here.

Carpatho-Rusyn DNA Project

Cossack DNA Project

Czech Republic DNA Project

Danish Demes

Denmark DNA Project

Finland DNA Project

Flanders-Flemish DNA Project

Germany mtDNA Project

Greek DNA Project

India regional DNA Project
(includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan)

Italy DNA Project

Latvia DNA Project

Lithuianian DNA Project

Netherlands DNA Project

Norway DNA Project

Polish DNA Project

Romania DNA Project

Russia DNA Project

Saami DNA Project

Scandinavia mtDNA Project

Shvarev Russian Clan DNA Project

Siberia Tansbaikalia DNA Project

Slovakia DNA Project

Switzerland DNA Project

Ukraine Black Sea DNA Project

Ukraine (Jewish) DNA Project

Disclaimer:

The mtDNA Haplogroup U4 Project is an independent genealogical research study run by volunteer administrators. The project receives no funding, and participants are responsible for the costs of their own tests. The project was organised as a co-operative effort among those who wish to explore genetic testing to advance their knowledge of deep and recent family backgrounds.

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Information and data obtained from the Haplogroup U4 Project must be attributed to the project, administrators, and Family Tree DNA as outlined in the Creative Commons Licence. Please notify administrators when using data for public or private research.


The mtDNA haplogroup U4 project is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported Licence.