Haplogroup NO, also known as NO-M214 and NO1, is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. NO is the sole confirmed subclade of Haplogroup K2a1, which is the sole subclade of Haplogroup K2a. NO is the dominant Y-DNA haplogroup in the Far East. Before 2016, NO was generally regarded as synonymous with K2a. Researchers such as Poznik et al. 2016 documented Y-DNA, in both ancient remains and living individuals, which: had some, but not all, of the mutations regarded previously as defining NO, and lacked the SNPs identifying haplogroups Haplogroup N and Haplogroup O. Poznik et al. therefore considered that K2a and NO constituted "grandparent" and "grandchild" clades, and proposed that the name K2a1 be assigned to the Y-DNA of individuals who belonged to K2a, but did not belong to NO. As of 2018, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy refers to NO-M214 as "NO1", and to K2a/K2a1 as "NO". There may be at least one other primary branch of NO: the ISOGG official Y-DNA haplogroup tree lists a haplogroup known as "NO1~" alongside NO-M214. The tilde indicates that its exact position of NO1~ in the phylogeny is unknown. It may be a primary branch or sibling of NO, it may be a primary branch or sibling of K2a1, or it may instead be a primary branch of K2a. Based on the projected origins of K2a, K2a1, and the basal haplogroups N* and O* respectively, NO* probably originated in East Asia.
Distribution
While there is some evidence of NO* being found in living individuals, these examples are not well-researched. Further research may instead identify them as belonging to N*, N1, or the provisional subclade N2. These cases include:
Members of Haplogroup NO* include a Telugu of Indian origin sampled in the United Kingdom and a Malay sampled in Singapore. Two sets of ancient remains previously considered as possibly belonging to NO have since been reclassified upstream to K2a.
Ust'-Ishim man dates from approximately 45,000 BP and was found in Omsk Oblast, Russia.
Oase 1: the remains found in Romania of a male who lived 37,000-42,000 years BP.
Likewise, cases previously regarded as possible examples of NO* or NO1*, and since ruled out, include:
two Han Chinese males previously found to be negative for M175 and LLY22g, have subsequently have been found to belong to N*, and;
a clade first identified in South India, defined by the SNP M147 and labelled "pre-NO" and "Haplogroup X", among other names, was found to be a sibling of NO within Haplogroup K2 ; the new clade was renamed K2e.
Subclades
Phylogenetic tree
This phylogeny of haplogroups K2a, K2a1, and NO is based on YFull 2018, Poznik 2016, ISOGG 2018, Karafet 2008. K2aK-M2308 Found only in the ancient remains "Ust'-Ishim man" and "Oase 1".
K2a1K-M2313 Named by Poznik 2016; previously not distinguished from K2a.
* NOK-M214 Poznik 2016 and ISOGG 2018 distinguish between NO1, N and O.
