Variation and

Natural
Selection
BAKHTAWAR FAZAL
Variation
 Variation
• Variation is defined as differences between individuals of the same species

• Phenotypic variation is the difference in features between individuals of the same species

• Phenotypic variation can be divided into two types depending on how you are able to group the measurements:

1) Continuous Variation is when there are many small degrees of differences for a particular characteristic between
individuals and can usually be measured on a scale; results in a range of phenotypes between two extremes

• Examples include height, mass, finger length etc. where there can be many ‘in-between’ groups

2) Discontinuous Variation is when there are distinct differences for a characteristic; results in a limited number of
phenotypes with no intermediates; the population is divided into discrete groups.

• 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 ‘in-betweens’
 Types of Variation
When graphs of these data are plotted, continuous variation gives smooth bell curves (a result of all the small degrees of
differences), whereas discontinuous gives a ‘step – like’ shape

Height is an example of continuous variation which Blood group is an example of discontinuous variation
gives rise to a smooth bell-shaped curve when plotted which gives rise to a step-shaped graph/ bar graph
as a graph- This is a normal distribution curve
Continuous versus Discontinuous Variation
Discontinuous or Continuous?
 Importance of Variation?
What is the importance of variation between members of a species?

• Genetic variation in a group of organisms enables some organisms to survive better than others in
the environment in which they live.

• An example would be moths of the same species with different color wings. Moths with wings similar to the
color of tree bark are better able to camouflage themselves than moths of a different color.

• Having variation within a species means that if the environment changes there may be individuals within the
species more able to withstand the change and survive.
Remember advantages and
disadvantages of
Sexual and asexual reproduction?
 Causes of Variation
The variability of phenotypes within a population and can be caused by two main ways:

• It can be genetic – controlled entirely by genes/differences in their genotypes

• Or it can be environmental – caused entirely by the environment in which the

organism lives

Whether earlobes are attached (lobeless) or

a) Genetic Variation: The differences in genes or chromosomes among individuals free (lobed) is an example of genetic variation
within the same species
Mutation is a rare and random change in
• Crossing over during meiosis increases variation because it results in genetically
a gene or chromosome and it can be
different gametes.
inherited.

• The random nature of sexual reproduction also gives rise to variation. There can be a change in the number of
chromosomes (e.g. Down’s syndrome) or
• Examples of genetic variation in humans include: blood group, Eye/hair colour, the structure of a gene (e.g. cystic fibrosis)
Height, whether ear lobes are free or fixed
 Causes of genetic variation (Mutation)
• Mutations are random genetic changes in the base sequence of DNA and
hence a way in which new alleles are formed (different genotypes)

• A mutation can lead to rapid change in a species if the new allele gives the
individual a survival advantage over other members of the species

• Example?

• Mutations can also lead to harmful changes that can have dramatic effects on
the body – for example, sickle cell anaemia in humans

• Mutations happen spontaneously and continuously but their frequency can

be increased by exposure to the following:

• Gamma rays, x – rays and ultraviolet rays – all types of ionising

radiations which can damage bonds and cause changes in base sequences

• Certain types of chemicals(Mutagens) – for example chemicals such as

tar in tobacco, heavy metals like lead and mercury which interfere with
DNA replication process

• Increased rates of mutation can cause cells to become cancerous

 Causes of genetic variation
b) Meiosis

• During sexual reproduction, gametes are formed by meiosis. In

meiosis, homologous chromosomes exchange genes and
separate from one another so that the gametes formed are not
all exactly the same
 Causes of genetic variation
c) Fertilisation

• Any two gametes of opposite types can fuse together in fertilization so that there are many different possible combinations of
genes which may be produced in a zygote.
 Causes of Variation
b) Environmental Variation

• Characteristics of all species can be affected by their

environment/conditions in which they develop

• In this instance ‘environmental’ simply means ‘outside of the organism’ and

so can include factors like climate, diet, culture, lifestyle and accidents during
lifetime

• 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
 Genetic and Environmental Causes Together
• Some features vary because of a combination of genetic and environmental causes

• Discontinuous variation is usually caused by genetic variation alone e.g. blood group, eye colour, skin colour etc

• Continuous variation 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

• Another way of looking at this is that although genes decide what characteristics we inherit, the surrounding
environment will affect how these inherited characteristics develop
Continuous Variation
 Example: Down’s Syndrome
• A random event during the formation of reproductive cells in a
parent leads to a condition known as Down’s Syndrome
(example of genetic variation)

• The 21st chromosomes do not separate from one another in

meiosis and so the resultant daughter cell has two 21
chromosomes and the other gets none with a total of 24
chromosomes

• This cell when fertilized with a normal cell from the other
parent, the zygote formed has three copies of chromosome 21
with a total of 47 chromosomes
 Example: Sickle Cell Anemia
• A gene mutation which results in a change in the base sequence of DNA and hence the amino acid sequence of the protein

• The mutation occurs in the gene that codes for the production of haemoglobin, causing the red blood cells (RBC’s) to become stiff
and sometimes sickle-shaped when they release oxygen to the body tissues

• The sickled cells tend to get stuck in narrow blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood

• As a result, those with sickle cell disease suffer painful “crises” in their joints and bones; feel tired and shortness of breath because
their faulty haemoglobin does not deliver oxygen to their cells efficiently and hence the cells cannot carry out as much respiration to
release energy for body activities

• They may suffer strokes, blindness, or damage to the lungs, kidneys, or heart. They must often be hospitalized for blood transfusions
and are at risk for a life-threatening complication called acute chest syndrome
 Example: Sickle Cell Anemia

• Some people carry a mutated version of the gene that codes for haemoglobin. The protein that is coded for by
the mutant allele doesn’t function correctly and can distort the shape of red blood cells.
• If a person has two copies of the mutant allele in their body cells then they will have the genetic condition sickle
cell anaemia. The sickle shaped red blood cells can block blood vessels and have a much shorter life span than
normal red blood cells.
 Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anaemia is caused by abnormal haemoglobin which changes the shape of red blood cells
 Natural Selection
• Natural selection is a process where organisms that are better adapted to an environment will survive and have more offspring. This means
their genes are passed on to the future generations. This process is fundamental to the process of evolution.

• Natural selection is known as ‘the survival of the fittest’. The best adapted organisms are able to survive. Only the most desirable characteristics
get passed down from parents to their offspring.

• A species changes over time in response to changes in the environment, or competition between organisms, in order for the species to survive.
The members of the species with the most desirable characteristics are able to produce the best-adapted offspring. If a species is unable to
adapt then it is at risk of becoming extinct:

• New predators

• New diseases
Environmental Selection
• Destruction of habitats Pressures

• Changes to the environment

• Increased competition for resources

 Sickle cell anaemia & natural selection
• If sickle cell anaemia is such a dangerous disease, then why has natural selection not removed it from the human population?

• The frequency of this serious disease is much higher in Africa? The answer is to do with malaria

• Malaria is a disease spread by mosquitoes that are endemic in many areas of Africa and causes over 1 million deaths per year

• Studies of diseases in populations suggested a connection between African populations, malaria and sickle cell disease

• A theory was suggested; if the heterozygous individuals (HbAHbS) are protected from malaria, and the negative effects (of sickle cell) are only present
in the small proportion of people who are homozygous for the affected allele (HbSHbS), then the affected allele could become more common

• Later studies supported this theory, showing that African children who are heterozygous for the sickle cell allele have a ten-fold reduction in their risk
of getting malaria

• This means that there is a strong correlation between the prevalence of sickle cell anaemia in areas of the world where malaria is common.

• Therefore, in each generation, the people most likely to reproduce were heterozygous people.
 Natural Selection
• In any environment, the individuals that have the best adaptive features are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce

Natural selection leads to evolution:

1) Variation: Individuals in a species show a range of variation caused by differences in genes or change in selection pressure (due to mutation; sexual reproduction)

2) Over-production: When organisms reproduce, they produce more offspring than the environment is able to support

3) Struggle for Existence: This leads to competition for food and other resources which results in a ‘struggle for survival’

4) Survival of the fittest: Individuals with characteristics most suited to the environment have a higher chance of survival and more chances to reproduce

5) Advantageous characteristics passed on: Therefore the alleles resulting in these characteristics give them a selective advantage and are passed to their offspring at a higher rate than those with
characteristics less suited to survival

6) Gradual Change: This means that in the next generation, there will be a greater number of individuals with the better adapted variations in characteristics and hence greater frequency of the advantageous
alleles

•This theory of natural selection was put forward by Charles Darwin and became known as ‘survival of the fittest’ because it suggests that the best adapted organisms are selected to pass on their
characteristics to the next generation.

Natural Selection results in the genes producing advantageous phenotypes being passed on to the next
generation more frequently than the genes which produce less advantageous phenotypes
 Evolution through Natural Selection
• Individuals in a species show a wide range of variation caused by differences in genes

• Individuals with characteristics most suited to the environment have a higher chance of survival and more chances to reproduce

• Therefore these characteristics are passed to their offspring at a higher rate than those with characteristics less suited to survival

• Over many generations, these beneficial characteristics become more common in the population and the species changes (the
species evolves)
 Natural Selection- An example
Variation in shell colour of snails
• Normal varieties of shell colours=black or grey
• Mutations lead to a small number of snails having a white shell (less
white shelled snails than black or grey shelled snails)
• The white shelled snail(s) survive longer
• ‘survival of the fittest’: The reason the white shelled snails survive
longer is because they are better camouflaged
• This means that they are less likely to be seen by predators and
eaten and hence get more opportunities to reproduce
• And so the allele for white shells is passed onto offspring more
frequently than the alleles for black or grey shells

Over generations, this is repeated until the majority of snails in

the population have white shells
 Natural Selection- An example
Within a species there is always
variation and chance mutations, some
individuals will develop a phenotype
(characteristic) that gives them a
survival advantage and therefore will:
live longer, breed more and be more
likely to pass their genes on
Repeated over generations, the Selection pressures are external
agents which affect an organism's
‘mutated’ phenotype will become the
ability to survive in a given
norm environment. Selection pressures can
be negative (decreases the
occurrence of a trait) or positive
(increases the proportion of a trait)

In this example, predation by birds is

the selection pressure because
selecting the dark moths for survival
Natural Selection
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 Evolution
• If the environment does not change, selection pressure does not change and individuals with the same characteristics as their
parents are favoured

• If the environment changes, or a chance mutation produces a new allele, selection might now favour individuals with
different characteristics or with the new allele

• So the individuals that survive and reproduce will have a different set of alleles that they pass on to their offspring

• Over time, this will bring about a change in the characteristics of the species – it will produce evolution

• Evolution is defined as the change in adaptive features of a population over time as a result of natural
selection

• Natural selection results in a process of adaptation, which means that, over generations, those features that are better adapted
to the environment become more common; This means populations of organisms become better suited to their environment
 Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
• An antibiotic=chemical that can kill or inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria

• Extremely useful to humans as some bacteria are pathogenic and can cause life-threatening disease

• Bacteria reproduce, on average, every 20 minutes and therefore evolution occurs in a much shorter time span

• Like all other organisms, within a population there will be variation caused by mutation

• A chance mutation might cause some bacteria to become resistant to an antibiotic (eg penicillin)

• When the population is treated with this antibiotic, the resistant bacteria do not die

• This means they can continue to reproduce with less competition from non-resistant bacteria, which are now dead

• Therefore the genes for antibiotic resistance are passed on with a much greater frequency to the next generation

• Over time the whole population of bacteria becomes antibiotic-resistant because the bacteria are best suited to their environment
 Natural selection: antibiotic resistance
• There is variation within bacterial phenotypes. Some are resistant to antibiotics and some are not due to a gene mutation.

• Treating bacteria with antibiotics provides competition/ selection pressure. The resistant individuals survive and the non-resistant
individuals do not survive.

• The resistant bacteria are able to reproduce and pass on the resistance gene to the next generation.

• Resistant bacteria increase and non-resistant bacteria decrease in number.

 Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
• This is an example of natural selection that humans have helped to develop due
to overuse of antibiotics in situations where they were not really necessary, for
example:

• for treatment of non-serious infections

• routine treatment to animals in agriculture

• failure to finish prescribed course of antibiotics

• The more antibiotics we use the greater the selection pressure which favours
new forms of resistance in bacteria

• Increases in the population of antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause infections and

diseases which are harder to control as it is difficult to find antibiotics that
certain strains of bacteria are not resistant to

• An example of this is MRSA, a very dangerous bacterial strain that is resistant to

most antibiotics; if someone gets infected with MRSA they cannot be treated
easily
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 Artificial Selection
• Artificial selection is a method used by humans to produce varieties of animals and plants which have an increased economic importance. People
use selective breeding to produce new varieties of a species, so that certain desirable traits are represented in successive generations.

• Selective breeding means to select individuals with desirable characteristics and breed them together

• The process doesn’t stop there though because it’s likely that not all of the offspring will show the characteristics you want so offspring that do
show the desired characteristics are selected and bred together

• This process has to be repeated for many successive generations before you can definitely say you have a ‘new breed’ which will reliably show
those selected characteristics in all offspring
 Selective Breeding in Plants
• Plants are selectively bred by
humans for development of
many characteristics, including: 1. Selection by humans of individuals with
disease resistance in food
desirable traits
crops, increased crop yield,
2. Crossing these individuals to produce
hardiness to weather
next generation
conditions (e.g. drought
3. Selection of offspring showing the
tolerance), better tasting fruits,
desirable characteristics
large or unusual flowers
4. Over many generations this can improve
• An example of a plant that has the quality of crop plants and
been selectively bred in multiple domesticated animals
ways is wild brassica, which has
given rise to cauliflower,
cabbage, broccoli, brussel
sprouts and kale.
 Selective breeding in Animals
• Individuals with the characteristics you want are bred together

• Offspring that show the desired characteristics are selected and bred together

• This process is repeated for many successive generations before you can definitely say you have a ‘new breed’ which
will reliably show those selected characteristics in all offspring

• Animals are commonly selectively bred for various characteristics, including:

• cows, goats and sheep that produce lots of milk or meat

• chickens that lay large eggs

• domestic dogs that have a gentle nature

• sheep with good quality wool

• horses with fine features and a very fast pace

 Selective Breeding: Main Steps
Selective breeding takes place over many generations. These are the main
steps for both plants and animals involve:

1. Decide which characteristics are important enough to select.

2. Choose parents that show these characteristics from a mixed

population. They are bred together.

3. Choose the best offspring with the desired characteristics to produce

the next generation.

4. Repeat the process continuously over many generations, until all

offspring show the desired characteristics.
 Selective breeding in Animals
An example of an animal that has been selectively bred by humans in many ways to produce breeds with many
different characteristics is the domestic dog, all breeds of which are descended from wolves

Make sure that you include the need to repeat the selective breeding for many generations in any
exam answer you give – selecting two parents with desired characteristics, breeding them and
stopping there is not selective breeding and will not give rise to a new breed.
 Benefits and risks of selective breeding
• Due to selective breeding, future generations of selectively bred plants and animals will all share very similar genes which will reduce
variation leading to a limited gene pool. breeding can lead to a reduced gene pool, making it more difficult to produce new varieties in the
future.

Benefits of selective breeding include:

• new varieties may be economically important, by producing more or better quality food

• animals can be selected that cannot cause harm, for example cattle without horns

Risks of selective breeding include:

• reduced genetic variation can lead to attack by specific insects or disease, which could be extremely destructive

• rare disease genes can be unknowingly selected as part of a positive trait, leading to problems with specific organisms, e.g. a high
percentage of Dalmatian dogs are deaf

• can create physical problems in specific organisms, e.g. large dogs can have faulty hips due to not being formed correctly
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