Final answer:
Copy number variations are relatively common in the genomes of all living organisms, notably in eukaryotes like plants with large and polyploid genomes. They contribute to the genetic diversity that drives evolutionary changes and affects attributes like disease susceptibility in humans, despite 99.5% of our genomic sequence being shared among individuals.
Step-by-step explanation:
Copy number variations (CNVs) are relatively common in the genomes of all living organisms, as they contribute to genetic diversity. However, they can be found in higher frequency and with more profound differences in some organisms compared to others. Due to the complexity of genomes and evolutionary processes, organisms like plants, which can have very large genomes and may be polyploid, tend to exhibit a great deal of CNVs. Additionally, eukaryotes tend to have larger genomes with more genetic material for such variations to occur than prokaryotes, like bacteria, which generally have smaller genomes.
These genetic variances are part of the raw material on which evolutionary processes act and contribute to the genetic makeup differences within and between populations. For instance, in humans, although 99.5% of the genomic sequence is shared among individuals, the remaining 0.5% harbors enough differences to influence susceptibility to diseases and can result in millions of different DNA sequences. Identifying the function of different CNVs -- whether they are associated with diseases or are merely neutral passengers -- is a significant focus in modern genetics.