Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción

Manuel Rodriguez-Concepcion is a CSIC Full Professor at IBMCP. He completed his doctoral thesis in 1995 under the supervision of Jose Pio Beltran at the IATA-CSIC in Valencia (Spain). He joined Wilhelm Gruissem’s lab (Univ. California at Berkeley, USA) in 1996. In 1999 he returned to Spain and joined Albert Boronat’s lab (Univ. Barcelona). In 2001, he got a "Ramón y Cajal" award to start an independent group. In 2006 he joined the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) in Barcelona (Spain) as a CSIC Associate Professor. He has been a Visiting Professor in sabbatical stays in the laboratories of Jay Keasling (Joint BioEnergy Institute, Berkeley, USA) in 2011 and Ian Paulsen (Macquarie Univ., Sydney, Australia) in 2019. He joined IBMCP in 2020. His research focuses on the metabolic pathways responsible for the synthesis of carotenoids and other isoprenoids in chloroplasts and also in bacteria, their evolutionary ancestors.

• Torres-Montilla S, Rodriguez-Concepcion M* (2021) Making extra room for carotenoids in plant cells: New opportunities for biofortification. PROG. LIPID RES. 84:101128
• Morelli L, Paulisic S, Qin W, Iglesias-Sanchez A, Roig-Villanova I, Florez-Sarasa I, Rodriguez-Concepción M*, Martínez-García JF* (2021) Light signals generated by vegetation shade facilitate acclimation to low light in shade-avoider plants. PLANT PHYSIOL. 186:2137-2151 COVER
• Ling Q, Sadali NM, Soufi Z, Zhou Y, Huang B, Zeng Y, Rodriguez-Concepción M, Jarvis RP* (2021) The chloroplast-associated protein degradation pathway controls chromoplast development and fruit ripening in tomato. NATURE PLANTS 7: 655-666
• Llamas E, Torres-Montilla S, Lee HJ, Barja MV, Schlimgen E, Dunken N, Wagle P, Werr W, Zuccaro A, Rodríguez-Concepción M, Vilchez D* (2021) The intrinsic chaperone network of Arabidopsis stem cells confers protection against proteotoxic stress.  AGING CELL 20:e13446
• Barja MV, Ezquerro M, Beretta S, Diretto G, Florez-Sarasa I, Feixes E, Fiore A, Karlova R, Fernie AR, Beekwilder J, Rodriguez-Concepción M* (2021) Several geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase isoforms supply metabolic substrates for carotenoid biosynthesis in tomato. NEW PHYTOL. 231:255-272 COVER
• Ballester P, Martínez-Godoy MA, Ezquerro M, Navarrete-Gómez M, Trigueros M, Rodríguez-Concepción M, Ferrándiz C* (2021) A transcriptional complex of NGATHA and bHLH transcription factors directs stigma development in Arabidopsis. PLANT CELL 33:3645-3657 COVER
• Andersen TB, Llorente B, Morelli L, Torres-Montilla S, Bordanaba-Florit G, Espinosa FA, Rodriguez-Goberna MR, Campos N, Olmedilla-Alonso B, Llansola-Portoles MJ, Pascal AA, Rodriguez-Concepción M* (2021) An engineered extraplastidial pathway for carotenoid biofortification of leaves. PLANT BIOTECHNOL. J. 19:1008-1021 COVER
• Llorente B*, Torres-Montilla S, Morelli L, Florez-Sarasa I, Matus JT, Ezquerro M, D’Andrea L, Houhou F, Majer E, Picó B, Cebolla J, Troncoso A, Fernie AR, Daròs JA, Rodriguez-Concepción M* (2020) Synthetic conversion of leaf chloroplasts into carotenoid-rich plastids reveals mechanistic basis of natural chromoplast development. PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. USA 117: 21796-21803
• Ortiz-Alcaide M, Llamas E, Gomez-Cadenas A, Nagatani A, Martinez-Garcia JF*, Rodriguez-Concepción M* (2019) Chloroplasts modulate elongation responses to shade by retrograde pathways involving HY5 and ABA. PLANT CELL 31: 384-398.
• Molina-Contreras MJ, Paulisic S, Then C, Moreno-Romero J, Pastor-Andreu P, Morelli L, Roig-Villanova I, Jenkins H, Hallab A, Gan X, Gomez-Cadenas A, Tsiantis M, Rodríguez-Concepción M, Martínez-García JF* (2019) Photoreceptor activity contributes to contrasting responses to shade in Cardamine and Arabidopsis seedlings. PLANT CELL 31: 2649–2663
• Welsch R*, Zhou X, Yuan H, Álvarez D, Sun T, Schlossarek D, Yang Y, Shen G, Zhang H, Rodriguez-Concepcion M, Thannhauser TW, Li L* (2018) Clp protease and OR directly control the proteostasis of phytoene synthase, the critical enzyme for carotenoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. MOL. PLANT 11: 149-162
• Rodriguez-Concepcion M*, Avalos J, Bonet ML, Boronat A, Gomez-Gomez L, Hornero-Mendez D, Limon MC, Meléndez-Martínez AJ, Olmedilla-Alonso B, Palou A, Ribot J, Rodrigo MJ, Zacarias L, Zhu C (2018) A global perspective on carotenoids: Metabolism, biotechnology, and benefits for nutrition and health. PROG. LIPID RES. 70: 62-93.
• Llamas E, Pulido P, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2017) Interference with plastome gene expression and Clp protease activity in Arabidopsis triggers a chloroplast unfolded protein response to restore protein homeostasis. PLOS GENET. 13: e1007022.
• Pulido P, Llamas E, Llorente B, Ventura S, Wright LP, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2016) Specific Hsp100 Chaperones Determine the Fate of the First Enzyme of the Plastidial Isoprenoid Pathway for Either Refolding or Degradation by the Stromal Clp Protease in Arabidopsis. PLOS GENET. 6: 19036.
• Ruiz-Sola MA, Barja MV, Manzano D, Llorente B, Schipper B, Beekwilder J, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2016) A single Arabidopsis gene encodes two differentially targeted geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase isoforms. PLANT PHYSIOL. 172: 1393–1402.
• Ruiz-Sola MA, Coman D, Beck G, Barja MV, Colinas M, Graf A, Welsch R, Rütimann P, Bühlmann P, Bigler L, Gruissem W, Rodríguez-Concepción M*, Vranová E* (2016) Arabidopsis geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase 11 is a hub isozyme required for the production of most photosynthesis-related isoprenoids. NEW PHYTOL. 209: 252-264
• Llorente B, D’Andrea L, Ruíz-Sola MA, Botterweg E, Pulido P, Andilla J, Loza-Alvarez P, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2016) Tomato fruit carotenoid biosynthesis is adjusted to actual ripening progression by a light-dependent mechanism. PLANT J. 85: 107-119.
• Garcia-Mas J*, Rodríguez-Concepción M (2016) The carrot genome sequence brings colors out of the dark. NATURE GENETICS 48: 589-590
• Pokhilko A, Bou-Torrent J, Pulido P, Rodríguez-Concepción M*, Ebenhöh O* (2015) Mathematical modelling of the diurnal regulation of the MEP pathway in Arabidopsis. NEW PHYTOL. 206: 1075–1085
• Bou-Torrent J, Toledo-Ortiz G, Ortiz-Alcaide M, Cifuentes-Esquivel N, Halliday KJ, Martinez-García JF*, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2015) Regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis by shade relies on specific subsets of antagonistic transcription factors and co-factors. PLANT PHYSIOL. 169: 1584-1594.
• Toledo-Ortiz G*, Johansson H, Lee KP, Bou-Torrent J, Stewart K, Steel G, Rodríguez-Concepción M, Halliday KJ* (2014) The HY5-PIF regulatory module coordinates light and temperature control of photosynthetic gene transcription. PLOS GENET. 10:e1004416. 
• Pulido P, Toledo-Ortiz G, Phillips MA, Wright LP, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2013) Arabidopsis J-Protein J20 Delivers the First Enzyme of the Plastidial Isoprenoid Pathway to Protein Quality Control. PLANT CELL 25:4183–4194.
• Pulido P, Perello C, Rodriguez-Concepcion M* (2012) New insights into plant isoprenoid metabolism. MOL. PLANT 5:964-967.
• Sangari FJ, Pérez-Gil J, Carretero-Paulet L, García-Lobo JM, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2010) A new family of enzymes catalyzing the first committed step of the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis in bacteria. PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. USA 107: 14081-14086 COVER.
• Toledo-Ortiz G, Huq E, Rodríguez-Concepción M* (2010) Direct regulation of phytoene synthase gene expression and carotenoid biosynthesis by phytochrome-interacting factors. PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. USA 107: 11626-11631 COVER.