m is east african abu amero et al abu amero et al licensee biomed central ltd eurasian and african mitochondrial dna influences in the saudi arabian population macrohaplogroup m five of the eight m saudi arab lineages clustered into the m african haplogroup three of them had the transition that was diagnostic of the m a east african cluster and the remaining one belonged to the rare but widespread m b cluster characterized in the hvsi region by transition and the d deletion that had been identified in the northwest africa jordan and the iberian peninsula the other three m sequences belonged to indian clades one had the basic motif of the m haplogroup a second had the and transitions that defined haplogroup m although this sequence see additional file did not match any of the definite or putative m sequences found in india or pakistan m originated in africa semino the genetic legacy of paleolithic homo sapiens conversely all non m mtdnas of non african origin analysed so far carry t these data indicate that the transition c t which defines haplogroup m arose on an african background characterized by the ancestral state c which is also present in four primate common and pygmy chimps gorilla and orangutan mtdna sequences