DNA Lesson Series: The mtDNA and its role in Ancestry
mtDNA Part I - mtDNA 101
mtDNA Part II - Facts about mtDNA
mtDNA Part III - mtDNA Structure
mtDNA Part IV - Ancestral Markers
mtDNA Part V - Detecting Mutations in the mtDNA
mtDNA Part VI - mtDNA Ancestral Markers
mtDNA Part VII - The Cambridge Reference Sequence
mtDNA Part VIII - mtDNA Test Types
mtDNA Part IX - mtDNA Haplogroup Determination
mtDNA Part X - mtDNA Subclades  <<– you are here
mtDNA Part XI - mtDNA Haplogroup H
mtDNA Part XII - Subclades of mtDNA Haplogroup H
mtDNA Part XIII - Distribution of Subclades of H
mtDNA Part XIV - Descendents of Maria-Theresa
mtDNA Part XV - Luke the Evangelist
mtDNA Part XVI - Empress Feodorovna
mtDNA Part XVII - James “Earthquake McGoon” McGovern

In mtDNA Part IX, we discussed how to use your mutations to determine your Haplogroup.  In this section, we will show you how you can trace your ancestry further by using your mutations to determine your “Subclade”. 

What are Subclades?

All people living today can trace their maternal ancestry back to one of 26 core mtDNA Haplogroups.  Haplogroups are the main “trunks” of the mtDNA phylogenetic tree and represent extremely ancient family groups which arose tens of thousands of years ago.  Over time, the descendents of each Haplogroup formed further subgroups, called “Subclades”.  Once you discover which Haplogroup you belong to, you can further fine tune your results by tracing which sub-branch of your Haplogroup you belong to through “Subclade” analysis. 

Subclades are named using numbers and letters.  For example, Subclades of Haplogroup H include H1, H2, H3, H4,…. and so on.  The Subclade H2 can be further classified as H2a, H2b, etc.  Similarly, the Subclade H5 can be further classified as H5a, H5b, etc.

Which mtDNA Subclade tests are available? 

Subclade testing will be launched over the next few months.  Refer to the following chart for the launch dates of upcoming mtDNA Subclade test panels.  Once the subclade test is available, it will appear automatically as an upgrade option from your control panel.

Please remember the following rules for subclade testing:

1. You can only take a subclade test if your Haplogroup is known (either confirmed, or strong prediction)
2. You can only take a subclade test for your own Haplogroup.  For example, if you belong to Haplogroup T, you will not qualify for Haplogroup H subclade testing. 
3. If a Subclade test is not yet available for your subclade, check back occasionally as the control panel is updated as the science progresses.  Once more information is known about your Haplogroup and its Subclades, it will automatically be announced here.

Coming up next, H Subclades!

Since the next Subclade test to become available is the mtDNA Haplogroup H Subclade SNP Test, in the next blog, we will discuss Haplogroup H, and provide an overview of current scientific research and discoveries for Haplogroup H. 

In preparation for the next blog, we recommend downloading and printing the Haplogroup H Subclade Map.  You will need this map when we talk about Haplogroup H subclades in the next blog.