Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 479 9592
Email
nathan.kenny@otago.ac.nz
Position
Senior Lecturer
Department
Department of Biochemistry
Iwi affiliation
Te Ātiawa, Ngāi Tahu
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) (Otago), BA, DPhil (Oxon)
Research summary
Evolutionary genomics

Research

Dr Kenny’s research is centred on a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, looking at the molecular mechanisms underlying resilience to climate change in the kuku (the green-lipped mussel, Perna canaliculus, also known as the kūtai). He has worked on a number of questions at the intersection of comparative genomics, phylogenetics and evolutionary developmental biology in a range of invertebrate species. He uses genomic sequencing, single cell approaches (scRNA and scATACseq), and both bioinformatic and embryological assays to understand how species diversify, develop and adapt to extreme environmental conditions.

For more information, please see his lab website.

Dr Kenny whakapapas to Te Ātiawa and Ngāi Tahu

Publications

Greenhough, H., Vignier, J., Peychers, C., Smith, K. F., Kenny, N. J., & Rolton, A. (2023). Exposure to Alexandrium spp. impairs the development of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) embryos and larvae. Harmful Algae, 127, 102465. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2023.102465

Truchado-García, M., Perry, K. J., Cavodeassi, F., Kenny, N. J., Henry, J. Q., & Grande, C. (2023). A small change with a twist ending: A single residue in EGF-CFC drives bilaterian asymmetry. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 40(2), msac270. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msac270

Leiva, C., Riesgo, A., Combosch, D., Arias, M. B., Giribet, G., Downey, R., Kenny, N. J., & Taboada, S. (2022). Guiding marine protected area network design with comparative phylogeography and population genomics: An exemplary case from the Southern Ocean. Diversity & Distributions, 28, 1891-1907. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13590

Sollitto, M., Kenny, N. J., Greco, S., Tucci, C. F., Calcino, A. D., & Gerdol, M. (2022). Detecting structural variants and associated gene presence-absence variation phenomena in the genomes of marine organisms. In C. Verde & D. Giordano (Eds.), Marine genomics: Methods and protocols: Methods in molecular biology (Vol. 2498). (pp. 53-76). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2313-8_4

Pechmann, M., Kenny, N. J., Pott, L., Heger, P., Chen, Y.-T., Buchta, T., … Roth, S. (2021). Striking parallels between dorsoventral patterning in Drosophila and Gryllus reveal a complex evolutionary history behind a model gene regulatory network. eLIFE, 10, e68287. doi: 10.7554/eLife.68287

Sollitto, M., Kenny, N. J., Greco, S., Tucci, C. F., Calcino, A. D., & Gerdol, M. (2022). Detecting structural variants and associated gene presence-absence variation phenomena in the genomes of marine organisms. In C. Verde & D. Giordano (Eds.), Marine genomics: Methods and protocols: Methods in molecular biology (Vol. 2498). (pp. 53-76). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2313-8_4

Chapter in Book - Research

Greenhough, H., Vignier, J., Peychers, C., Smith, K. F., Kenny, N. J., & Rolton, A. (2023). Exposure to Alexandrium spp. impairs the development of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) embryos and larvae. Harmful Algae, 127, 102465. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2023.102465

Journal - Research Article

Truchado-García, M., Perry, K. J., Cavodeassi, F., Kenny, N. J., Henry, J. Q., & Grande, C. (2023). A small change with a twist ending: A single residue in EGF-CFC drives bilaterian asymmetry. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 40(2), msac270. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msac270

Journal - Research Article

Leiva, C., Riesgo, A., Combosch, D., Arias, M. B., Giribet, G., Downey, R., Kenny, N. J., & Taboada, S. (2022). Guiding marine protected area network design with comparative phylogeography and population genomics: An exemplary case from the Southern Ocean. Diversity & Distributions, 28, 1891-1907. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13590

Journal - Research Article

Calcino, A. D., Kenny, N. J., & Gerdol, M. (2021). Single individual structural variant detection uncovers widespread hemizygosity in molluscs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 376, 20200153. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0153

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., & Itskovich, V. B. (2021). Phylogenomic inference of the interrelationships of Lake Baikal sponges. Systematics & Biodiversity, 19(2), 209-217. doi: 10.1080/14772000.2020.1827077

Journal - Research Article

Pechmann, M., Kenny, N. J., Pott, L., Heger, P., Chen, Y.-T., Buchta, T., … Roth, S. (2021). Striking parallels between dorsoventral patterning in Drosophila and Gryllus reveal a complex evolutionary history behind a model gene regulatory network. eLIFE, 10, e68287. doi: 10.7554/eLife.68287

Journal - Research Article

Plese, B., Kenny, N. J., Rossi, M. E., Cárdenas, P., Schuster, A., Taboada, S., … Riesgo, A. (2021). Mitochondrial evolution in the Demospongiae (Porifera): Phylogeny, divergence time, and genome biology. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution, 155, 107011. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107011

Journal - Research Article

Riesgo, A., Taboada, S., Kenny, N. J., Santodomingo, N., Moles, J., Leiva, C., … Maldonado, M. (2021). Recycling resources: Silica of diatom frustules as a source for spicule building in Antarctic siliceous demosponges. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 192(2), 259-276. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa058

Journal - Research Article

Britstein, M., Cerrano, C., Burgsdorf, I., Zoccarato, L., Kenny, N. J., Riesgo, A., … Steindler, L. (2020). Sponge microbiome stability during environmental acquisition of highly specific photosymbionts. Environmental Microbiology, 22(8), 3593-3607. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15165

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Francis, W. R., Rivera-Vicéns, R. E., Juravel, K., de Mendoza, A., Díez-Vives, C., … Leys, S. P. (2020). Tracing animal genomic evolution with the chromosomal-level assembly of the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri. Nature Communications, 11, 3676. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17397-w

Journal - Research Article

Álvarez-Campos, P., Kenny, N. J., Verdes, A., Fernández, R., Novo, M., Giribet, G., & Riesgo, A. (2019). Delegating sex: Differential gene expression in stolonizing syllids uncovers the hormonal control of reproduction. Genome Biology & Evolution, 11(1), 295-318. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evy265

Journal - Research Article

González-Aravena, M., Kenny, N. J., Osorio, M., Font, A., Riesgo, A., & Cárdenas, C. A. (2019). Warm temperatures, cool sponges: The effect of increased temperatures on the Antarctic sponge Isodycta sp. PeerJ, 7, e8088. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8088

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Noreña, C., Damborenea, C., & Grande, C. (2019). Probing recalcitrant problems in polyclad evolution and systematics with novel mitochondrial genome resources. Genomics, 111(3), 343-355. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2018.02.009

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Plese, B., Riesgo, A., & Itskovich, V. B. (2019). Symbiosis, selection, and novelty: Freshwater adaptation in the unique sponges of Lake Baikal. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 36(11), 2462-2480. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msz151

Journal - Research Article

Leiva, C., Taboada, S., Kenny, N. J., Combosch, D., Giribet, G., Jombart, T., & Riesgo, A. (2019). Population substructure and signals of divergent adaptive selection despite admixture in the sponge Dendrilla antarctica from shallow waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula. Molecular Ecology, 28(13), 3151-3170. doi: 10.1111/mec.15135

Journal - Research Article

Sumner-Rooney, L., Kenny, N. J., Ahmed, F., & Williams, S. T. (2019). The utility of micro-computed tomography for the non-destructive study of eye microstructure in snails. Scientific Reports, 9, 15411. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51909-z

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., de Goeij, J. M., de Bakker, D. M., Whalen, C. G., Berezikov, E., & Riesgo, A. (2018). Towards the identification of ancestrally shared regenerative mechanisms across the metazoa: A transcriptomic case study in the demosponge Halisarca caerulea. Marine Genomics, 37, 135-147. doi: 10.1016/j.margen.2017.11.001

Journal - Research Article

Riesgo, A., Cavalcanti, F. F., Kenny, N. J., Ríos, P., Cristobo, J., & Lanna, E. (2018). Integrative systematics of clathrinid sponges: Morphological, reproductive and phylogenetic characterisation of a new species of Leucetta from Antarctica (Porifera, Calcarea, Calcinea) with notes on the occurrence of flagellated sperm. Invertebrate Systematics, 32(4), 827-841. doi: 10.1071/is17033

Journal - Research Article

Schumann, I., Kenny, N., Hui, J., Hering, L., & Mayer, G. (2018). Halloween genes in panarthropods and the evolution of the early moulting pathway in Ecdysozoa. Royal Society Open Science, 5(9), 180888. doi: 10.1098/rsos.180888

Journal - Research Article

Taboada, S., Kenny, N. J., Riesgo, A., Wiklund, H., Paterson, G. L. J., Dahlgren, T. G., & Glover, A. G. (2018). Mitochondrial genome and polymorphic microsatellite markers from the abyssal sponge Plenaster craigi Lim & Wiklund, 2017: Tools for understanding the impact of deep-sea mining. Marine Biodiversity, 48, 621-630. doi: 10.1007/s12526-017-0786-0

Journal - Research Article

Pechmann, M., Benton, M. A., Kenny, N. J., Posnien, N., & Roth, S. (2017). A novel role for Ets4 in axis specification and cell migration in the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. eLIFE, 6, e27590. doi: 10.7554/eLife.27590

Journal - Research Article

Benton, M. A., Kenny, N. J., Conrads, K. H., Roth, S., & Lynch, J. A. (2016). Deep, staged transcriptomic resources for the novel coleopteran models Atrachya menetriesi and Callosobruchus maculatus. PLoS ONE, 11(12), e0167431. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167431

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Chan, K. W., Nong, W., Qu, Z., Maeso, I., Yip, H. Y., … Hui, J. H. L. (2016). Ancestral whole-genome duplication in the marine chelicerate horseshoe crabs. Heredity, 116, 190-199. doi: 10.1038/hdy.2015.89

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Truchado-García, M., & Grande, C. (2016). Deep, multi-stage transcriptome of the schistosomiasis vector Biomphalaria glabrata provides platform for understanding molluscan disease-related pathways. BMC Infectious Diseases, 16, 618. doi: 10.1186/s12879-016-1944-x

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Namigai, E. K. O., Marlétaz, F., Hui, J. H. L., & Shimeld, S. M. (2015). Draft genome assemblies and predicted microRNA complements of the intertidal lophotrochozoans Patella vulgata (Mollusca, Patellogastropoda) and Spirobranchus (Pomatoceros) lamarcki (Annelida, Serpulida). Marine Genomics, 24, 139-146. doi: 10.1016/j.margen.2015.07.004

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Shen, X., Chan, T. T. H., Wong, N. W. Y., Chan, T. F., Chu, K. H., … Hui, J. H. L. (2015). Genome of the rusty millipede, Trigoniulus corallinus, illuminates diplopod, myriapod, and arthropod evolution. Genome Biology & Evolution, 7(5), 1280-1295. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evv070

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Sin, Y. W., Hayward, A., Paps, J., Chu, K. H., & Hui, J. H. L. (2015). The phylogenetic utility and functional constraint of microRNA flanking sequences. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 282(1803), 20142983. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2983

Journal - Research Article

Qu, Z., Kenny, N. J., Lam, H. M., Chan, T. F., Chu, K. H., Bendena, W. G., … Hui, J. H. L. (2015). How did arthropod sesquiterpenoids and ecdysteroids arise? Comparison of hormonal pathway genes in noninsect arthropod genomes. Genome Biology & Evolution, 7(7), 1951-1959. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evv120

Journal - Research Article

Sin, Y. W., Kenny, N. J., Qu, Z., Chan, K. W., Chan, K. W. S., Cheong, S. P. S., … Hui, J. H. L. (2015). Identification of putative ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone pathway genes in the shrimp Neocaridina denticulata. General & Comparative Endocrinology, 214, 167-176. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2014.07.018

Journal - Research Article

Chipman, A. D., Ferrier, D. E. K., Brena, C., Qu, J., Hughes, D. S. T., Schröder, R., … Dearden, P. K., … Duncan, E. J., … Kenny, N. J., … Richards, S. (2014). The first myriapod genome sequence reveals conservative arthropod gene content and genome organisation in the centipede Strigamia maritima. PLoS Biology, 12(11), e1002005. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002005

Journal - Research Article

Grande, C., Martín-Durán, J. M., Kenny, N. J., Truchado-García, M., & Hejnol, A. (2014). Evolution, divergence and loss of the nodal signalling pathway: New data and a synthesis across the Bilateria. International Journal of Developmental Biology, 58, 521-532. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.140133cg

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Namigai, E. K. O., Dearden, P. K., Hui, J. H. L., Grande, C., & Shimeld, S. M. (2014). The lophotrochozoan TGF-β signalling cassette: Diversification and conservation in a key signalling pathway. International Journal of Developmental Biology, 58, 533-549. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.140080nk

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., Sin, Y. W., Shen, X., Zhe, Q., Wang, W., Chan, T. F., … Hui, J. H. L. (2014). Genomic sequence and experimental tractability of a new decapod shrimp model, Neocaridina denticulata. Marine Drugs, 12(3), 1419-1437. doi: 10.3390/md12031419

Journal - Research Article

Wilson, M. J., Kenny, N. J., & Dearden, P. K. (2014). Components of the dorsal-ventral pathway also contribute to anterior-posterior patterning in honeybee embryos (Apis mellifera). EvoDevo, 5, 11. doi: 10.1186/2041-9139-5-11

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., & Dearden, P. K. (2013). NMDA receptor expression and C terminus structure in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and long-term potentiation across the Metazoa. Invertebrate Neuroscience, 13, 125-134. doi: 10.1007/s10158-013-0154-0

Journal - Research Article

Kenny, N. J., & Shimeld, S. M. (2012). Additive multiple k-mer transcriptome of the keelworm Pomatoceros lamarckii (Annelida; Serpulidae) reveals annelid trochophore transcription factor cassette. Development Genes & Evolution, 222, 325-339. doi: 10.1007/s00427-012-0416-6

Journal - Research Article

García-Castro, H., Kenny, N. J., Iglesias, M., Álvarez-Campos, P., Mason, V., Elek, A., … Solana, J. (2021). ACME dissociation: A versatile cell fixation-dissociation method for single-cell transcriptomics. Genome Biology, 22, 89. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02302-5

Journal - Research Other

Kenny, N. J., McCarthy, S. A., Dudchenko, O., James, K., Betteridge, E., Corton, C., … Williams, S. T. (2020). The gene-rich genome of the scallop Pecten maximus [Data Note]. GigaScience, 9(5), giaa037. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giaa037

Journal - Research Other

Plese, B., Rossi, M. E., Kenny, N. J., Taboada, S., Koutsouveli, V., & Riesgo, A. (2019). Trimitomics: An efficient pipeline for mitochondrial assembly from transcriptomic reads in nonmodel species. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19(5), 1230-1239. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13033

Journal - Research Other

Namigai, E. K. O., Kenny, N. J., & Shimeld, S. M. (2014). Right across the tree of life: The evolution of left-right asymmetry in the Bilateria. Genesis, 52(6), 458-470. doi: 10.1002/dvg.22748

Journal - Research Other

Kenny, N. J., Quah, S., Holland, P. W. H., Tobe, S. S., & Hui, J. H. L. (2013). How are comparative genomics and the study of microRNAs changing our views on arthropod endocrinology and adaptations to the environment? General & Comparative Endocrinology, 188, 16-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.02.013

Journal - Research Other

Back to top