Finding and benefiting from mt matches: how?

[FranM]

I received an email saying: "A mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Full Genomic Sequence match has been found between kit [myself] and another person(s) in the Family Tree DNA database"

How do I find this person? When I log in and look at matches for the past three days, I see one new match, but that person has FMS and FF, not FGS next to their name.

Can I do chromosome browser comparisons with mtDNA matches? Seemingly not. The mtDNA matches show up in a list with seemingly nothing one can "do" with them. I feel that I know what mtDNA is, but I don't understand what mtDNA matches are. My mt matches don't even have the same haplogroup all the time (some have "one above," ie H instead of my H1). What are these matches supposed to tell me? Thanks.

[hansonrf]

Same here. The FGS matches are those that include the entire sequence; HVR1 and HVR2 and the Coding Region. This is a large number of markers.

FTDNA reports the Genetic Distance or the number of Steps or Mutations you differ from those matches.

They do not tell you which markers differ. Unless it is an exact match over the full sequence (all 3 regions; zero steps) your common ancestor may be many generations back.

Sharing a haplogroup means you share a common maternal path through history, but not necessarily all of your markers.mutations. You might be several steps apart.

Check out the mtDNA FAQs.

Bob H.