Sources of

Variation
IN ORDER FOR NATURAL SELECTION TO OPERATE, THERE MUST BE
VARIATION AMONG INDIVIDUALS IN A POPULATION. VARIATION ARISES
FROM THE FOLLOWING MECHANISMS..

1. MUTATIONS: Any change in an

organisms DNA

The raw material for variation. Mutations can invent alleles that
never existed before.

2. Sexual Reproduction: Creates

individuals with new combinations
of alleles.

Where there is sex, there is variety

due to..

A) Independent Assortment of homologs during

meiosis

B) Crossing over during prophase 1 of meiosis

C) Fertilization randomly joins gametes making

new gene combinations.

3. Diploidy (2n)

The presence of two copies of each

chromosome in a cell. In heterozygous
condition, the recessive allele is hidden from
natural selection, but maintained in the gene
pool.

4) Outbreeding

Mating with unrelated partners increases the

possibility of mixing different alleles and creating
new allele combinations.

5) Balanced Polymorphism

The maintenance of two or more alleles in a

population due to a selective advantage of the
heterozygote

Two phenotypes of a given trait occur with

equal frequency in a population over many
generations

6) Heterozygote Advantage

Being heterozygous for a trait bears a

greater selective advantage than either
homozygous condition.
EXAMPLE: Sickle Cell Anemia
Aa (heterozygous) individuals have some
limited oxygen carrying ability but have a
selective advantage..they are
resistant to malaria!

7) Hybid Vigor (heterosis)

Describes the superior

quality of offspring of
inbred strains of parents.
The hybrid is more
resistant to diseases and
conditions than a pure
bred.

8) Frequency-dependent selection
(predator-prey relationships)

The fitness of a phenotype depends on its

frequency relative to other phenotypes

Examples: As a host becomes more immune to

the common bacteria, the rare forms are
selected.
Example: As a species of hare become more
common, the are preyed on more often and
selected against.

SUMMARY
Despite

constant natural
selection, genetic diversity is
maintained through sexually
reproducing diploid organisms
where the heterozygote acts to
retain alleles in the gene pool.