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Understanding the Admin - Y-DNA Results Overview Report

Introduction

The Y-DNA Results Overview Report allows you to evaluate members according to their paternal ancestry and Y-STR test results. Project Members are organized by the subgroups that you have set in the Project Management Member Subgrouping tool.

Applications

This is one of the most important tools in GAP for surname and Y-DNA haplogroup projects as it allows you to compare individual STR markers. There is a lot to take in on this page, so let’s take a look at some of the most important features:

STR Chart Headings

The Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) Results Overview report headings are color-coded in two ways. First, each testing level (Y-DNA1-12, Y-DNA13-25, Y-DNA26-37, Y-DNA38-67, and Y-DNA68-111) is coded with a different shade of blue. Second, the STR (short tandem repeat) markers that have faster mutation rates and are more likely to change within the genealogical time frame are coded with a red background.

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Fast Mutating Markers

Different STR markers have different mutation rates, and some tend to mutate much more often than others. This is particularly the case with multi-copy markers. These are markers where the repeating sequence (eg. ACTG) occur in more than one place in the Y-chromosome. While they are in separate locations on the chromosome, each location has the same sequence of nucleotides. For this reason they are reported as the number of repeats found at each location. In the Y-DNA Results Classic page this is reported as a single marker column with dashes separating each value such as 9-9 or 14-14-14-15. You can read more about multi-copy markers here.

Having more than one location on the chromosome means that each location is subject to mutation independent of the others. They also have a higher likelihood to have null values, meaning that they gain or lose additional copies as well as the number of repeats within each copy. This increases the probability of a change, and thus we call them fast mutating markers.

Differences on these markers are also counted as Genetic Distance when viewing matches or the Y-DNA Genetic Distance page. However, because of the difference in mutation rates, some administrators choose to omit these particular markers in comparisons or to focus on them specifically. While the Y-DNA Genetic Distance page will list the overall GD between two group members, it does not specify which markers differ. The Y-DNA Results Classic page is the best place to compare this.

 

MIN/MAX/MODE

The Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) results chart is color coded to show where someone in a subgroup differs from the calculated modal value for an STR (short tandem repeat) marker in that subgroup. For each step less than the modal value, a progressively darker shade of blue is used for the background color. For each step greater than the modal value, a progressively darker shade of pink is used for the background color.

GAP Color Scale
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Public Website Color Scale

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Haplogroup

The haplogroup listed in the haplogroup column is displayed in the short-hand format. This means it is represented by the main haplogroup (e.g. R) followed by the SNP that defines that haplogroup or subgroup. For example, the haplogroup known as R1b in the long-hand format is defined by the SNP M269, so it is reported by FamilyTreeDNA as R-M269.

For members who have only taken a Y-STR test, this will be a predicted haplogroup displayed in red. For those who have taken a SNP test such as the Big Y, this will be a confirmed haplogroup displayed in green. SNP testing often provides a more refined haplogroup that identifies the sub branch your paternal lineage descends from. If you see different haplogroups in the same subgroup, they may be in the same parent branch, with one further downstream than the other.

The haplogroup shown will be the furthest downstream available. FOr example, if a person has a Family Finder confirmed haplogroup as well as a Y-STR based prediction, the confirmed haplogroup will be displayed. 

Genealogical Information

The columns for Paternal Ancestry Name and Country display the self-reported information that group members input on their Account Settings Earliest Known Ancestors tab.

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