The Causes of variation and its biological importance

Variation is caused by the inheritance of different alleles from sexual reproduction and
mutation. Whether the organism carries alleles that are advantageous to its survival is
determined by its environment.
Selection is the process by which an organism becomes adapted to its environment by
survival of the fittest, or natural selection. Natural selection can be divided into three
categories.
Stabilising selection is preserving the characteristics of a species. On a
normal distribution curve, those closest to the mean will be best
adapted to the environment and so will have the least competition
between other members of the species and will be the most likely to
survive. Over time, the curve peak increases and the curve
becomes narrower as those furthest away from the mean are least
advantageous they will die or fail to reproduce.
Directional selection is where there is a change in environment, and so,
the normal distribution curve over time will shift to those with the
best phenotypes to suit the new environment.
Disruptive selection can be caused by geographical isolation such as
mountain ranges forming over thousands of years or by a river
forming, dividing the species. The condition in the two habitats may
differ therefore; the different phenotypes will be advantageous in
the two areas. The allelic frequencies will change as those unsuited to the new
environment will die off or unsuccessfully reproduce. Therefore, the normal
distribution curve will form two peaks at either end of the scale.
From these three forms of selection, all cause a change in allelic frequencies as alleles
unsuited are lost along the evolutionary process.
The change in alleles can be termed reproductive success in which the offspring inherit
advantageous alleles making them more likely to survive and reproduce.
The variation in alleles can be caused by mutation, crossing over or independent assortment.
The last two occur in sexual reproduction, mutation occurs in both sexual and asexual
reproduction.
Mutation
Mutation is when the DNA that codes for polypeptide chains is changed by addition, deletion
or substitution of nucleotides. There are three types of mutation nonsense, midsense and
silent.
Nonsense is where a base changes results in a stop code and so, the polypeptide production
would be stopped prematurely. Midsense is where the base change results in a different amino
acid being coded for, the result of this maybe a change in the shape of an active site. Silent
mutation is unnoticeable as the substituted base is different but still codes for the same amino
acid.
Mutations very rarely are advantageous to the organism, but when they do arise, they give
them the competitive advantage which, by reproductive success will go on to increase in
frequency in the population.

Meiosis
During Meiosis, two crucial stages occur that cause variation within organisms, these are
crossing over and independent assortment.
Independent assortment occurs during metaphase 1. When the chromosomes align in pairs at
the equator or the cell, spindle fibres attach to the centromere and depending on whether the
chromosome is on the left or right of the equator, they will be pulled to either side by the
spindle fibres. The way they line up in pairs is entirely random, and consequently impacts
which side of the cell they end up on before division. This is entirely random and causes
genetic variation within gametes.
When paternal and maternal homologous chromosomes are joined in a bivalent, chiasma can
form. This is a point in which crossing over occurs between the chromosomes multienzyme
complexes cut and join DNA to different homologous chromosomes (paternal and maternal).
Crossing over and independent assortment causes many different possible combinations of
alleles from mother and father to be formed and is the main cause of variation within
offspring.
As explained before, when advantageous alleles caused by mutation that are inherited, this
process is called reproductive success. Reproductive success will increase the allelic
frequency of the allele within the population of a species, as those will have the advantage
and more likely to survive, passing on the advantageous allele It is necessary because the
species will become better adapted to its environment and will have a competitive advantage
in increasing its chance of survival against other species. By a process of elimination, or by
natural selection, only the best adapted will survive.
An example of nature reducing competition between species is with algae. Different species
of algae have adapted to photosynthesis using different wavelengths of light, and there, can
survive at different depths. The competition for light is massively reduced.
Speciation can occur when a species is divide e.g. by geographical isolation such as a river.
Speciation is the evolution of a new species form an existing one, it occurs due to conditions
such as temperature, food sources etc. are different in the two different places. This means
different alleles will be advantageous for the species and so, by reproductive success, the
allelic frequencies of the two populations will change. Over time this results in the two
populations being so different that they can no longer interbreed and can therefore no longer
be classed as one species. In this way, evolution occurs. This is an example of the effects of
variation within species and how it can cause a totally new species to coexist.
One of the main examples of variation, in terms of survival, can be seen in bacteria and its
genetic resistance. Although mutation that is advantageous is rare, populations of bacteria are
so large and reproduce so rapidly that a useful mutation occurs more often than in most other
organisms. This is an example of disruptive selection, because most of the species is wiped
out however, some may contain the mutation of resistance to the antibiotic and so they will
survive, hence, the allele for resistance will be of high frequency in the new population.
This is why variation within organisms is so important, in the sense that if a disease does
infect a population there will be few that survive and can continue the species and save it
from extinction. If there was no variation, every organism of the species would die.

In conclusion, variation occurs by natural selection, in three different ways, and by mutation.
It is important for survival, to reduce competition and to potentially save a species from
extinction by a disease.