Multiple forms of balancing selection maintain inversion polymorphism

Despite many examples of balanced inversion polymorphisms, little is known about how they affect fitness-related traits. This knowledge gap hampers our understanding of how they are selectively maintained as protected polymorphisms. Here, we study the effects of a cosmopolitan balanced inversion polymorphism in D. melanogaster, In(3R)Payne, on fitness components, including traits related to development, growth, reproduction, stress resistance, and adult survival. We find that the non-inverted standard (STD) chromosomal arrangement and the inverted (INV) arrangement behave like Mendelian alleles of a supergene, which affect a suite of complex fitness-related phenotypes. While the STD arrangement tends to have positive, mostly dominant effects on size-related traits, fecundity, fertility, stress resistance, and lifespan, the INV arrangement exhibits mostly recessive effects that are indicative of fitness costs. Yet, in favor of the balanced polymorphism, we observe overdominance for egg h..., , # Multiple forms of balancing selection maintain inversion polymorphism

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.bvq83bkn7](10.5061/dryad.bvq83bkn7)

## Description of the data and file structure

The main aim of our study (Paris *et al.* 2025) was to investigate the effects of the *In(3R)Payne* inversion polymorphism on a suite of fitness-related traits in the vinegar fly, *Drosophila melanogaster*. Here we present the raw data of our study (see: Paris_et_al_2025_Heredity_raw_data.xlsx). For further details see our paper Paris *et al.* 2025, entitled \"Multiple Forms of Balancing Selection Maintain Inversion Polymorphism\", published in *Heredity*. For additional details please contact the first author, Margot Paris ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])), or the corresponding author, Thomas Flatt ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])).

### Files and variables

#### File: Paris_et_al_2025_Heredity_raw_data.xlsx

**Description:** Each tab of the excel file provides t...,