Codon usage bias influences the genetic features prevalent in genomes of all the organisms. It also plays a crucial role in establishing the host–pathogen relationship. The present study elucidates the role of codon usage pattern regarding the predilection of fungal pathogens Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides towards host plant Zingiber officinale. We found a similar trend of codon usage pattern operative in plant and fungal pathogens. This concurrence might be attributed for the colonization of fungal pathogens in Z. officinale. The transcriptome of both plant and pathogens showed bias towards GC-ending codons. Natural selection and mutational pressure seem to be accountable for shaping the codon usage pattern of host and pathogen. We also identified some distinctive preferred codons in A. flavus, F. oxysporum and Z. officinale that could be regarded as signature codons for the identification of these organisms. Knowledge of favored, avoided and unique codons will help to devise strategies for reducing spice losses due to fungal pathogens.

密码子使用偏好影响所有生物体基因组中普遍存在的遗传特征。它还在建立宿主 - 病原体关系中起着至关重要的作用。本研究阐明了密码子使用模式在真菌病原体黄曲霉、黑曲霉、尖孢镰刀菌和胶孢炭疽病菌对寄主植物姜的偏好方面的作用。我们发现了在植物和真菌病原体中有效的密码子使用模式的类似趋势。这种一致可能归因于真菌病原体在Z. officinale 中的定植. 植物和病原体的转录组都表现出对 GC 结束密码子的偏向性。自然选择和突变压力似乎是塑造宿主和病原体密码子使用模式的原因。我们还在A. flavus、F. oxysporum 和 Z. officinale中鉴定了一些独特的优选密码子，它们可以被视为识别这些生物的特征密码子。对偏好的、避免的和独特的密码子的了解将有助于设计减少由真菌病原体引起的香料损失的策略。