MERS-CoV Spike Gene Evolution through Codon Bias and Nucleotide Composition: Insights from 1,746 Genomes

This dataset presents a comprehensive codon usage analysis of 1,746 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) genomes, focusing on the spike (S) gene. Metrics include Effective Number of Codons (Nc), Codon Adaptation Index (CAI), GC3 content, dinucleotide frequencies (CpG, UpA), and PR2 bias. After correction for sequence completeness and application of a per-amino-acid Nc algorithm (Bhatti, 2025), MERS-CoV exhibits strong codon bias (Nc ≈ 42) and low host adaptation paralleling SARS-CoV-2 and contrasting with partially adapted viruses like H5N1. The data support a model in which mutational pressure and RNA structural constraints, rather than translational optimization, dominate MERS-CoV evolution. This resource enables cross-viral comparative studies of zoonotic coronavirus adaptation.MERS-CoV spike / DPP4 has distinct evolutionary constraints on its receptor-binding domain that is yielding RNA structural constraints mutational pressures without much being optimized to translational optimization.Data processed and curation by: [e-mail]