Qestion about my XX chromosomes

[Catrin]

Hello, I am a woman and have 2 X chromosomes (one from my mother, and one from my father). I know my maternal haplogroup which comes from one of my X chromosomes. But what's about the other one of my X chromosomes which comes from my father? He got his X from this mother, my paternal grandmother. So why it isn't possible to see the haplogroup of this paternal X chromosome when I do a DNA analysis? Why do I get the maternal X result only?

[blanko]

The X chromosomes don't provide the maternal haplogroup. Mitochondrial DNA does that, and it's a different test than Family Finder (which is an autosomal test). If you want your mitochondrial haplogroup, you need to do a mtDNA test at FTDNA. This article explains the four different kinds of DNA: https://dna-explained.com/2012/10/01...tic-genealogy/

[Catrin]

I know my mtDNA, as I wrote (it's U5b2a1b1a), that was not my question. Sorry, my English is not so good. You wrote that the mitochondrial DNA provides the maternal haplogroup. My father got his mtDNA from his mother, but he can't pass on this mtDNA to me, right? Ok, I think I understand. But I got one of my X chromosomes from him, so what can this paternal X chromosomes tell me about my ancestors?

[blanko]

The X chromosome can be used to narrow down which ancestors could have passed any of it down to you. This will eliminate other lines which could not pass down the X chromosome. This can help you to see how you are related to a DNA match.

You can use charts for male and female inheritance patterns for the X chromosome to see which ancestors can pass it on. This article is good and has links to other articles that may be helpful: https://dna-explained.com/2014/01/23...osome-that-is/
Another good article on the X chromosome is here, and also has links to other information: https://genie1.au/x-dnas-helpful-inheritance-patterns/ There is a section showing practical use of the X chromosome. There are more resources in this post in the FTDNA forums: https://forums.familytreedna.com/for...e-x-chromosome

A father's X chromosome is inherited from his mother with no recombination. So it will be one of his mother's X chromosomes which usually will be recombined from both of her parents X chromosomes. On the other hand, an X chromosome from your mother is usually recombined from her parents X chromosomes. It's like the male X skips a generation, in a way. This article has some images showing the differences in male and female X chromosome recombination: https://smithplanet.com/stuff/x-chromosome.htm

Your father, his mother, or a female sibling of either of them would need to do an mtDNA test to get your father's mtDNA haplogroup, in case you're interested.

[Catrin]

Thank you very much.
My father and mother are both dead, even the siblings of my father. My mother didn't have siblings.

[blanko]

If your father had a sister who is now dead but who had children, one of those children could do the mtDNA test if you want to know that haplogroup. Those children would inherit your paternal grandmother's mtDNA (mother of your father).

[Biblioteque]

I stumbled upon my paternal grandmother, Laura's partial mtDna at 23 and Me from my 1C1XR, Peter, who tested there and was one of my matches. My father's mother's mtDna was passed to her daughter, Laura, and then to her daughter, Jean, and then to her son, Peter, who 23 and Me gave the partial J1c8, which is obviously that of my paternal grandmother, Laura.

And BTW, the X Chromo is Chromo 23, autosomally.

[Catrin]

The sisters of my father all died without children. So no chance to found the mtDNA of my father.

[georgian1950]

The sisters of my father all died without children. So no chance to found the mtDNA of my father.

Did your father's mother have any sisters? If so, I'd be looking for any cousins who might be able to give you your answer.

[Catrin]

No, my paternal grandmother had one brother only, no sisters.

[KATM]

If you want to know your father's (and his mother's, etc.) mitochondrial haplogroup, and neither he nor his mother had surviving sisters from which you might find a mtDNA-line descendant, then you can try to find such a descendant from an earlier generation. You would need to have done the research to know who (for example) the female siblings for your paternal grandmother's mother were, and those for your paternal great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother of the same mtDNA line. Then you would need to track down the female descendants of any such female siblings who carry the same mtDNA, until you get to people who are living now who may have done DNA testing for genealogy.

You can use a chart (such as one created by Alice J. Ramsey, or this similar one) to determine which of these 2nd to 5th+ cousins, or 2nd to 5th+ generations removed cousins (or half cousins descended from the target female ancestor) are specifically mtDNA-related. On the Alice Ramsey chart, the "Parent" would be your father, and the "Grandparent" and earlier generations above can be used for his mother and her direct maternal ancestors. The descendants of those direct maternal ancestors will need to be females; they can be male ONLY if they are the last one living in that line.

If you have matches at FTDNA or 23andMe, and can identify one of those specific mtDNA direct line relatives as a match, you might be able to find the haplogroup of your paternal grandmother.

• At FTDNA, if such a match has done mtDNA testing, the mtDNA haplogroup will show in your match list in the information under the match's name. Additionally, you can use "Family Matching" at FTDNA to identify paternal or maternal matches by having a tree at FTDNA, and linking a known relative to their place in your tree.
• At 23andMe, your match's haplogoup(s) will show on their profile page after you click on their name. Additionally, if one or both of your parents has tested, you can choose to filter by Mother's Side or Father's Side.

Either of those offer methods which will at least let you narrow the list to your paternal side. You would then need to determine which of the matches in the paternal list are from your father's mother's side, then drill down to determine if the match is a direct mtDNA line descendant.

You may be able to find such 4th cousins or greater if you have done enough research for your father's mother's ancestors in her mtDNA line. The trick then is to see if they have already done a DNA test and will show up in your DNA match list, or otherwise you can find them and contact them to see if they will do either an mtDNA test at FTDNA, or at least an autosomal test at 23andMe, which will at least give you an mtDNA (or YDNA) haplogroup, even if it may not be as complete as one from FTDNA (although sometimes they are the same).

Roberta Estes has a post showing how she found mtDNA haplogroups for her 8 great grandparents: "Using Mitochondrial Haplogroups at 23andMe to Pick the Lock" You can scroll down to the sections "Matrilineal Line Elimination" and "Identifying My Ancestor’s Haplogroups" for the related information.

I was able to test some of my then-living elder relatives for mtDNA and YDNA haplogroups (as well as autosomal testing) before they died, so I have a few haplogroups for some lines. But for other lines, there were no direct line descendants for mtDNA or YDNA, and I need to do the same methods as I've outlined above if I want to find the haplogroups for those lines. I made a spreadsheet to keep track of the ancestors of those haplogroup lines, and as I find their siblings and descendants of those siblings, I add their names to my "haplogroup" spreadsheet. It is challenging to find the descendants in some branches and lines, but worth it if you want to be able to know how your DNA matches are related to you.