Chapter 17
Variation and selection
Variation
Look around your classroom. Everyone is
different from everyone else.
Some of the more obvious differences are in
height or hair type. We also vary in blood
groups, the shape of our ears, how good we
are at sport, how sociable we are and many
other ways. Differences between individuals
belonging to the same species are called
variation
Continuous and discontinuous
variation
There are two basic types of variation. One
type is discontinuous variation. Blood groups
are an example of discontinuous variation.
Everyone fits into one of four definite
categories – each of us has group A, B, AB or
O. There are no intermediate (in-between)
categories.
Figure 17.2 is a graph showing discontinuous
variation in blood groups. On the x-axis,
because each blood group is a separate,
distinct category, there is no continuous
scale
The other type of variation is continuous variation. Height
in humans is an example of continuous variation (Figure
17.3). There are no definite height categories that a
person must fit into. People vary in height, between the
lowest and highest extremes.
Figure 17.4 shows continuous variation in height. We can
show these data as a histogram (frequency diagram).
Notice that the scale on the x-axis now goes up steadily,
rather than having completely separate categories as in
Figure 17.2. The bars in a histogram touch each other,
because the scale is continuous.
The causes of variation
One reason for the differences between
individuals is that their genotypes are different.
Blood groups, for example, are controlled by
genes. There are also genes for hair colour, eye
colour, height and many other characteristics.
Discontinuous variation is almost always caused
only by genes. Examples of discontinuous
variation include the presence or absence of
horns in cattle (Figure 17.6), and wrinkled and
round seeds in peas (Figure 17.7)
Another important reason for variation is the difference
between the
environments of individuals. For example, you may have
the genes to enable you to grow tall, but unless you eat a
good diet, you will not grow to your full potential height.
Features such as body mass and height in humans, which
show continuous variation, are affected not only by
genes, but also by environment.
Only features that are caused by genes are passed on to
an organism’s
offspring. Variation caused by the environment is not
passed on (Figure 17.8).
Causes of genetic variation
Mutation
Sometimes, a gene may suddenly change.
This is called mutation. Mutation is how new
alleles are formed. Mutations are the only
source of brand-new characteristics that
appear in a species. So, mutations are really
the source of all genetic variation.
One of the most important of these that
cause mutation is ionising radiation, such as
X-rays, gamma radiation, beta radiation and
alpha radiation. Radiation can damage the
bases in DNA molecules. If this happens in
the ovaries or testes, then the altered DNA
may be passed on to the offspring.
Heavy metals such as lead and mercury can
interfere with the process in which DNA is copied.
If this process goes wrong, the daughter cells will
get faulty DNA when the cell divides. Chemicals
which can cause mutations are called mutagens.
So, a mutation in DNA results in a change in the
proteins that are made. Usually, the change will
be harmful – if the protein is a different shape, it
will not be able to carry out its function (Figure
17.9).
But very occasionally the mutation may
be beneficial.