VARIATION
17.1 Variation
Learning objectives
Students should be able to:
Describe variation as differences between individuals of the
same species
Understand that continuous variation results in a range of
phenotypes between two extremes, including body length and
body mass
Understand that discontinuous variation results in a limited
number of phenotypes with no intermediates, including ABO
blood groups, seed shape and seed colour in peas
Understand that discontinuous variation is usually caused by
genes only and continuous variation is caused by genes and the
environment
Investigate and describe examples of continuous and
discontinuous variation
Phenotype
Definition:
The phenotype is the observable characteristic of an organism.
It is the result of the interaction between genotype and
environment.
In simple words:
Phenotype is what you can see.
Examples:
Eye colour (brown, blue)
Height (tall or short)
Flower colour (red or white)
Genotype
Definition:
The genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism — the
combination of alleles (different version of the same gene coding
for a different protein) it has for a trait(characteristic).
In simple words:
Genotype is the letter combination of alleles.
Examples:
BB, Bb, bb
Genotype Bb gives phenotype brown eyes
Variation
Variation is the differences between individuals within a species
Genetic variation and
phenotypic variation
Phenotypic variation is all the observable
characteristics of an organism such as colour,
shape, size and biochemistry
Phenotypic variation is caused by both
genetic(controlled entirely by genes only) and
environmental factors(caused entirely by the
environment in which the organism lives and
the genes that they contain)
Genetic variation is the difference between the
genotypes of individuals
Genetic Variation
Examples of genetic variation in humans
include:
Blood group
Eye colour
Ability to roll tongue
Whether ear lobes are free or fixed
Environmental Variation
Characteristics of all species can be affected by
environmental factors such as climate, diet,
accidents, culture and lifestyle
Examples include:
An accident may lead to scarring on the body
Eating too much and not leading an active lifestyle
will cause weight gain
Being raised in a certain country will cause you to
speak a certain language with a certain accent
A plant in the shade of a big tree will grow taller to
reach more light
Variation
Phenotypic variation can be divided into two types depending
on how you are able to group the measurements:
Continuous variation
Discontinuous variation
Continuous Variation
Continuous variation is when there are very many
small degrees of difference for a particular
characteristic between individuals and they are
arranged in order and can usually be measured on a
scale.
Examples include height, mass, finger length etc.
where there can be many intermediate groups
Continuous features often vary because of a
combination of genetic and environmental causes,
for example:
Tall parents will pass genes to their children for
height
Their children have the genetic potential to also be
tall
However, if their diet is poor then they will not grow
very well
Therefore their environment also has an impact on
their height
Continuous Variation
When graphs of this data is plotted,
these will result in a normal
distribution – plotted as frequency
histograms.
Continuous variation gives smooth bell
curves (a result of all the small
degrees of difference)
Discontinuous variation
Discontinuous variation is when
there are distinct differences
for a characteristic
For example, people are either
blood group A, B, AB or O;
are either male or female;
can either roll their tongue or
not
there are no intermediary
values
Seed shape and seed colour in
peas are also examples of
discontinuous variation
Discontinuous variation is
usually caused by genetic
variation alone
Discontinuous variation
When graphs of these data are
plotted it is presented on a bar
chart.
Blood groups are another
example of discontinuous
variation
C