Translational Research - Université de Genève

Bacteriology
Patrick Linder
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine
Patrick Linder obtained his undergraduate training in Basel and his PhD on replication in
Escherichia coli at the University of Geneva in 1984. He spent three years in Gif-sur-Yvette in
France as a postdoctoral Fellow, before he came back to Switzerland as Junior Group Leader at
the Biozentrum, University of Basel. He was appointed Lecturer at the University of Geneva in
1994, Associate Professor in 2000 and full Professor in 2007 of the Department of Microbiology
and Molecular Medicine.
RNA metabolism and horizontal gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
Our group has a long-standing interest in the biological role of DEAD-box RNA helicase family
proteins. These RNA helicases unwind short RNA duplexes, displace proteins from RNA, or
function as regulated clamps on RNA. They are therefore ideal key players in gene expression.
After studying DEAD-box proteins in yeast for many years, our group switched gradually to the
analysis of RNA helicases in the opportunistic pathogen S. aureus. Our main focus is the analysis
of two RNA helicases and their role in virulence expression and adaptation to different growth
conditions.
One of the helicases is required for efficient biofilm formation in a clinical S. aureus strain.
Recent data indicate that it is part of the degradosome and thereby regulates the abundance
of a central regulatory RNA, the mRNA of the agr quorum sensing system, thus regulating
adhesion versus dispersal.
The second RNA helicase seems to confer increased resistance to acid stress and may influence
survival in neutrophils.
12 Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
Bacterial DEAD-box RNA helicases, characterised by their
conserved motifs, are involved in ribosome biogenesis, translation
initiation and RNA decay and thereby contribute to the versatility
of these microorganisms.
Redder P & Linder P (2012) New Range of Vectors with a Stringent 5-Fluoroorotic Acid-Based
Counterselection System for Generating Mutants by Allelic Replacement in Staphylococcus
aureus. Appl Environ Microbiol 78:3846-3854.
Linder P and Jankowsky E (2011) From unwinding to clamping - the DEAD box RNA helicase
family. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 12, 505-516. [review]
Xu SY, Corvaglia AR, Chan SH, Zheng Y, Linder P (2011) A type IV modification-dependent
restriction enzyme SauUSI from Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus USA300. Nucleic Acids
Res. 39, 5597-610
Corvaglia AR, François P, Hernandez D, Perron K, Linder P*, Schrenzel J (2010) A type III-like
restriction endonuclease functions as a major barrier to horizontal gene transfer in clinical
Staphylococcus aureus strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 107:11954-8.
* corresponding author; “Editors choice” in Science, selected by the Faculty of 1000 Biology.
Banroques J, Doère M, Dreyfus M, Linder P, Tanner NK (2010) Motif III in the superfamily 2
”helicases” helps convert the binding energy of ATP into a high affinity RNA binding site in
the yeast DEAD-box protein Ded1. J. Mol. Biol. 396:949-96
Contact: Patrick.Linder@unige.ch
Bacteriology
Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
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