Translational Research - Université de Genève

Bacteriology
Jacques Schrenzel
Department of Internal Medicine Specialties
Division of Infectious Diseases (HUG)
Jacques Schrenzel obtained his medical degree in 1989 at the University of Geneva. After clinical
training at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) he carried out research on neutrophils in
infectious diseases. He was postdoctoral Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota
from 1997 to 2000. On his return to Geneva he was awarded an Assistant Professorship by the
Swiss National Science Foundation and became a pioneer in the genomic analysis of pathogens
(www.genomic.ch). Since 2004 he has been responsible for the Central Bacteriology Laboratory
of the HUG and was appointed Associate Professor in 2010.
Persistence and virulence in Staphylococcus aureus infections
Metagenomics of infectious diseases
We study the pathogenesis of S. aureus infections with a special focus on its ability to persist
as well as to survive host defences. This more specifically concerns the mechanisms of biofilm
formation and the capacity of the bacteria to survive within eukaryotic cells by regulating the
gene expression of numerous bacterial metabolic and virulence-related targets. These
approaches used bacterial genetics, home-brew high-density microarrays and, more recently,
next generation sequencing. This explains the creation of our own bioinformatics group and
the more recent development of research topics using metagenomics to address clinically
relevant questions, within local and international consortia.
18 Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
Corvaglia AR, François P, Hernandez D, Perron K, Linder P and Schrenzel J (2010) A novel
restriction endonuclease functions as a major barrier to horizontal gene transfer in clinical
Staphylococcus aureus strains. PNAS 107:11954-11958. Editor’s choice, Science 329:121.
Lazarevic V, Whiteson K, Hernandez D, François P, Schrenzel J (2010) Study of inter- and intraindividual
variations in the salivary microbiota. BMC Genomics 11:523.
François P, Harbarth S, Huyghe A, Renzi G, Bento M, Gervaix A, Pittet D and Schrenzel J (2008)
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Geneva, Switzerland 1993-2005. Emerg Infect
Dis 14:304-307.
Hernandez D, François P, Farinelli L, Osteras M, and Schrenzel J (2008) De novo Bacterial Genome
Sequencing: Millions of Very Short Reads Assembled on a Desktop Computer. Genome
Research 18:802-809.
Garzoni C, François P, Huygue A, Tapparel C, Charbonnier Y, Renzoni A, Couzinet S, Lucchini S,
Lew D, Vaudaux P, Kelly WI and Schrenzel J (2007) A Global View of Staphylococcus aureus
Whole Genome Expression Upon Internalization in Human Epithelial Cells. BMC Genomics
8:171.
Contact: Jacques.Schrenzel@genomic.ch
Bacteriology
Université de Genève • Faculté de médecine
19