Variegation is anomalous chlorophyll distribution in plants that normally have even distribution. It takes the form of yellow or white stripes in normally all-green plants. It is caused by a partial or complete lack of chloroplasts in some tissues in the leaf. When viral infection causes striping, it is not variegation. It is a result of direct toxic action of the virus.
Some plants have normally spotted or striped leaves, like many Phalaenopsis species. These are not considered variegation because they still have normal distribution of chloroplasts in tissues.
Variegation can be natural. During cell division cytoplasmic organelles like chloroplasts are usually split about evenly between daughter cells. But sometimes by chance one daughter cell will have no chloroplasts. If this happens in the meristem - the dividing tissue at the tip of a growth - it may become permanent.
Neofinetia normally has all-green leaves. The various older Neofinetia variegated selections have this kind of variegation.
It is possible to use certain chemicals to kill chloroplasts. If these are applied to living meristem tissue, and the plant survives, variegation may be induced.
I don't know whether this has been done in Neofinetia, but some newer variegated Neofinetia forms could have been created in this manner.
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