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Genetic diversity can be described as the variety of unique hereditary features found in a species. Genetic diversitycan be defined as the variation or diversity within a species, community, or collection.
- There would be a number of individuals with a diverse range of attributes in a species with great genetic diversity.
- A population's ability to adapt to shifting conditions depends on genetic diversity.
- The capacity of a population to adjust to changes will be lowered if a highly chosen and low-diversity strain – such as fish populations raised for aquaculture—is transplanted into a wild population.
Read Also: Heredity and Evolution
Key Terms: Genetic Diversity, Evolution, Gene Flow, Genetic Drift, Mutation, Natural Selection
What is Generic Diversity?
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Genetic diversity refers to the variation or diversity within a species, community, or collection. Genetic Diversity is the genetic variability present within species. Thus,
| “It is the product of recombination of the genetic material during inheritance.” |
- Genetic diversity changes with time and space.
- Sexual reproduction helps to maintain genetic diversity because it gives unique offspring by combining the genes of parents.
- Each person has specific genes that make them special. For instance, every individual has a distinct physical look.
- This is a result of each person's distinct genetic composition. It refers to various populations of the same species, such as the different dog and flower breeds.
Genetic Diversity
- The gene pool's diversity contributes to the organisms' ability to adapt to various environmental changes.
- Although this is beneficial to the species, it could be harmful to other organisms.
- The genetic diversity of viruses and the challenge in developing a vaccine against them serve as the best examples.
- Every replicative cycle of viruses like HIV results in a distinct biological composition due to these changes.
Read More:
| Concept Related Biodiversity | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mutation | Ganga action plan | Endangered Species |
| Montreal Protocol | Environment Protection Act 1986 | Homeostasis |
Importance of Genetic Diversity
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Genetic diversity shows a course of evolution. It is the essential component and key to both species' adaptation and evolution.
- Genetic diversity is important because it ensures that specific populations, species, or groups of people are able to adapt to particular environmental changes.
- It is crucial for species to have genetic diversity since it increases their chances of survival.
- The wide variation among the multiple gene sets gives an individual or the entire population the ability to resist environmental changes.
- Genetic diversity helps to give a healthy population by maintaining a variety of genes which are resistant to pests, diseases or other conditions.
- A variety of plants can be grown by the method of cross-breeding diverse genetic variants in order to produce plants with desirable traits such as disease resistance and increased stress tolerance.
- Genetic diversity helps to decrease the repetition of undesirable inherited traits.
Examples of Genetic Diversity
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The environment affects a population's genetic features that are beneficial. In order to pass on their genes and advantageous features, organisms that are better able to adapt to their surroundings survive.
- Examples of genetic variants that can exist in a human population include skin colour, hair colour, dimples, freckles, and blood type.
- The altered leaves of carnivorous plants and the evolution of flowers that resemble insects to entice pollinators are two examples of genetic variation in plants.
- Gene flow is a major cause of gene variation in plants. Pollinators or the wind can transport pollen over great distances from one place to another.
- Albinism, cheetahs with stripes, snakes that fly, play-dead creatures, and animals that mimic leaves are a few examples of genetic variation in animals.
- As a result of these variations, the animals are better able to adapt to environmental conditions.
Components of Genetic Diversity
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Evolutionary processes like Mutation, Genetic drift, Gene flow, and Natural selection all have an impact on genetic diversity. Only mutations, though, can result in whole new alleles. Thus,
Mutations
Mutations are modifications to the DNA's nucleotide sequence. The primary cause of mutations is the replacement or alteration of genes and chromosomes. New alleles created by mutations can alter the genetic structure of a population.
Genetic drift
Genetic drift, which is less prominent in large populations, is a random shift in a population's frequency of a particular allele from generation to generation as a result of chance sampling events.
Gene flow
Gene flow, commonly referred to as gene migration, is the dissemination of alleles among populations. Gene flow is the process by which an allele is transferred from one population to another, resulting in the production of future generations that have that allele. Both have a distinct frequency for this allele.
Natural Selection
Natural selection is a process through which the gene pool of the population changes because individuals who can withstand environmental changes reproduce more frequently.
Read Also: Genetic Engineering
Conservation of Genetic Diversity
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There are various dangers to genetic diversity. In order to preserve all levels of biodiversity, including species' genetic diversity, the global community has made this commitment. Three factors work together to facilitate the conservation of genetic variety:
- Establishing the goal of conservation
- Understanding the genetic diversity of populations and
- Implementing conservation techniques into practice
The most practical approach to gene conservation for a species depends on the local characteristics, population genetic makeup, and extent of the geographic range.
For all living things, genetic diversity can be preserved. However, several approaches are used on the basis of the objectives of conservation, the location of the conservation object, and the genetic factors of the object. Thus,
- In situ conservation: The whole of biodiversity cannot be conserved, so there are specific “hotspots” are identified and conserved to protect species which are endemic to a distinct habitat and are threatened, endangered or at high risk of extinction. E.g. wildlife sanctuaries.
![In situ conservation]()
In situ conservation
- Ex-situ conservation: Endangered plants and animals are typically taken from their natural habitat to be kept in a special setting for them to receive special care and protection. E.g. botanical gardens, wildlife safari, etc.
- By the methods of cryopreservation techniques, the gametes of threatened species are conserved in a fertile condition for a longer time period.
- The eggs can be fertilized via an in-vitro process and plants can be propagated via tissue culture.
- Genomic library is also used to conserve genetic diversity.
![Ex situ conservation]()
Ex-situ conservation
Read More:
| Chapter Related Articles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Food Web | Carbon cycle | Biomass |
| Aquatic ecosystem | Phosphorous cycle | Terrestrial Ecosystem |
| Epiphytes | Camouflage | Parasitic Symbiosis |
Things to Remember
- Genetic diversity is the variation or diversity within a species, community, or collection.
- Natural selection uses genetic diversity to change the frequency of alleles that already exist in the population.
- Random mating, random fertilisation, recombination between homologous chromosomes during meiosis, mutation and meiosis itself are all possible sources of genetic diversity.
- A population benefits from genetic diversity because it allows certain members of the population to survive environmental changes while allowing others to adapt to them.
- In-situ conservation can be defined as the species conservation in its natural habitat and its maintenance in its original place.
- Ex-situ conservation can be expressed as the conservation of species outside their natural habitats.
Previous Year Questions
- BOD stands for…? [JEE Mains 2016]
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) value can be a measure of water pollution…? [JEE Mains 2016]
- Which is wrong with respect to our responsibility as a human being to protect…? [JEE Mains 2019]
- Ozone is destroyed by CFCs in the upper stratosphere Ozone holes increase the…? [JEE Mains 2019]
- Addition of phosphate fertilisers to water bodies…? [JEE Mains 2015]
- A water sample has ppm level concentration of the following…? [JEE Mains 2019]
Sample Questions
Ques. What is meant by biodiversity conservation? (1 mark)
Ans. The conservation of a variety of species of plants and animals for the maintenance of life on earth is termed biodiversity conservation.
Ques. What are the two primary sources of genetic diversity? (1 mark)
Ans. Genetic recombination and random mutations are two major factors that influence genetic variation. Mutations are modifications to an organism's DNA that affect its physiology, behaviour, and/or appearance.
Ques. Why is genetic variation significant? (2 marks)
Ans. Some of the fundamental processes of evolution cannot function without genetic variation, and without it, organisms would be unable to adapt and will finally perish.
Ques. Which form of selection tends to increase genetic diversity? (2 marks)
Ans. The process of disruptive selection, also known as diversifying selection, enhances genetic variation. Extreme phenotypes are preferred over intermediate ones in this type of selection, which frequently leads to the emergence of new species.
Ques. How do meiosis and genetic variation relate to one another? (2 marks)
Ans. A procedure known as crossing over occurs in prophase I when gametes are produced during meiosis. Tetrads are formed when four sister chromatids—two from each parent—line up parallel to one another throughout this process.
Ques. How does genetic diversity occur from sexual reproduction? (2 marks)
Ans. Sexual reproduction is primarily responsible for genetic variation through genetic recombination. Recombination occurs in three different ways: when genes separate during meiosis when genes randomly mix together during fertilisation, and when genes cross over during meiosis.
Ques. What is Genetic Diversity? (3 marks)
Ans. Genetic diversity implies a greater number of genetically distinct individuals that are found in the same species.
- It is a method by which a population survives in a changing environment.
- More genetic variation indicates that a more significant number of individuals with different alleles help sustain the organisms in a variety of changing environments.
- These individuals typically produce offspring with the same alleles.
Ques. Give a few examples of Genetic Diversity. (4 marks)
Ans. Some major genetic diversity examples:
- Different dog breeds. Dogs are selectively bred in order to get selected traits.
- Different types of rose, wheat, and more.
- Over 50,000 varieties of rice and over a thousand varieties of mangoes can be found in India.
- Several medicinal plants, like Rauvolfia vomitoria, that are found in the Himalayan ranges differ in the produced chemical reserpine.
Ques. What is the difference between in-situ and ex-situ conservation? (5 marks)
Ans. The main difference between In-situ and Ex-situ conservation is that in-situ conservation is the act of conserving wildlife species in their natural habitats.
Ex-situ conservation is the efforts of conserving wildlife species, but away from their natural habitats.
In the case of in-situ conservation, the natural environment of plant and animal species is preserved. However, in the case of ex-situ conservation, an artificial environment is developed to mimic the natural environment for the conservation of wildlife species.
For in-situ conservation, a dynamic environment is provided so that the species can easily adapt, evolve and reproduce.
On the other side, in ex-situ conservation, the adaptability of animal and plant species can be potentially controlled with restriction of breeding.
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