– Part of the CDA Spring Lecture Series.

Speaker: Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción

Professor, IBMCP Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (Spain)

Join us on Zoom

Theme

The many facets of chloroplasts – hosted by Dr. Juan Camilo Moreno Beltran.

Abstract

Biofortification of foodstuffs with health-promoting metabolites such as carotenoids is a powerful tool to fight against hidden hunger. Dietary carotenoids are vitamin A precursors and reduce risk of several chronical diseases. In the last few years, our work unveiled novel molecular mechanisms regulating the levels and activity of carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes and created artificial chromoplasts for improved carotenoid biosynthesis, storage, and bioaccessibility. Additionally, we explored the feasibility of moving the production of carotenoids away from plastids. Impact of these strategies on the biofortification of leaves and other green tissues with carotenoids will be presented.

About the speaker

Prof. Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción completed his PhD thesis in 1995 at the IATA-CSIC (now IBMCP) in Spain. In 1996, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley (USA), where he developed his interest on isoprenoids as a Postdoc. In 1999, he joined the University of Barcelona (Spain) as a Senior Postdoc, and he was granted the Ramón y Cajal Award to start his independent research line on carotenoids in 2001. In 2006, Rodríguez-Concepción joined the CRAG in Barcelona as a CSIC Assistant Professor. He was promoted to CSIC Associate Professor in 2010 and to CSIC Full Professor in 2020. In 2021, he moved back to IBMCP (Spain). His work has revealed novel components controlling the metabolic pathways that synthesize carotenoids and related isoprenoids at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.

This event occurred in the past. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.