Haplogroup M30 is a South-Asian or an India-specific maternal lineage of the macrohaplogroup M identified by the mutations T195A, G15431A and G12007A. Haplogroup M30 used to be a part of M4 haplogroup distinguished by G15431A. Haplogroup M30 shares a common coding region mutation together with the M4, M18, M37 and M38 haplogroups from the root of haplogroup M. M4′30 super-clade is the only clade that shares an intermediate lineage between 2 haplogroups, while the rest of all M lineages have originated independently from the root of macrohaplogroup M; thus supporting the idea of rapid dispersal of modern humans along the Asian coast after they left Africa, followed by a long period of isolation. Haplogroup M30 was identified in 2005 based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences of 24 Indian samples. It was designated as a new lineage with sub-haplogroups M30a, M30b, M30c, M30d based on observed mutations sites. The mutations characterizing this lineage were observed in five samples from eastern part of India, that is Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and two samples from south India. Previously identified Haplogroup M18 was collapsed to reside in M30 as a sub-lineage. In 2006, the definition of M30 was narrowed down by identifying it with the mutations T195A, 15431A and G12007A. The study detailed an individual from the Reddy population of Andhra Pradeshcategorized into M30a; a sample of Thogataveera from Andhra Pradesh classified into M30b; the presence of M30c in Thogataveera of Andhra Pradesh and Chaturvedi of Uttar Pradesh, and finally, the identification of M30d in Bhargava of Uttar Pradesh and Thogataveera of Andhra Pradesh. In 2009, Subhaplogroup M30e was identified among Kathodi, Kathakur and Mathakur in Western region of India. In 2006, Sahoo and Kashyap reported haplogroup M30 in Oriya Brahmins, Karanams, Khandayats, Gope ; and in tribes of Juang and Saora of Orissa. The Saora exhibited a high frequency of M30 followed by Karanams, Oriya Brahmins and Juang. Khandayat and Gope showed a lower frequency of M30. M30 was also detected at low frequencies in Pardhan, Naikpod Gond and Andh tribal populations of Andhra Pradesh. The age of M30 lineage was estimated at 33,042 ± 7,840 Years Before Present. However, Thangarajah, et al. dated it to 15,400 ± 6300 YBP. Rajkumar, et al. put forward the estimated coalescence time of haplogroup M30 to be 15,400 ± 6300 ybp, and that of its sub-haplogroups M30a and M30c to be 5100 ± 3600 ybp. The ages of M30b and M30d were computed to be 4177 ± 2800 years and 12,800 ± 5700 ybp respectively. This period corresponds with the late-Mesolithic in India and the Levant.
Distribution
M30 has a broad geographic, ethnic and linguistic range in India. It has been detected in northern and southern India, in Australoids and Caucasoids, and in Dravidian and Indo-European speakers. This supposedly lends credence to the long speculated possibility of Dravidian speakers migrating through Iran to India. This view is supported by the presence of Indian haplogroups in Iran, and the close relationship between the Dravidian and Elamite languages. M30 haplogroup has been detected in Palestinians and is supposedly due to a recentgene flow from India into that region. M30 is found in Eastern Yemeni populations, Upper Egypt and Kesra, while M30 individuals were found to constitute 7.5% of the total population of Hadramawt. Apart from Saudi Arabia, M30 has also been detected in the maternal lineages of China. Peng et al. have found one individual who belongs to mtDNA haplogroup M30c1 in a sample of 28 Tajiks from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, two individuals who belong to mtDNA haplogroup M30h in a sample of 68 Kyrgyz from Taxkorgan, Xinjiang, China, one individual who belongs to mtDNA haplogroup M30* in a sample of 66 Wakhis from Taxkorgan, and one individual who belongs to mtDNA haplogroup M30 in a sample of 86 Sarikolis from Taxkorgan. To sum up, M30 haplogroup individuals have been found in
