Dr Joe McKenna

BBSRC Discovery Fellow

Email: joe.mckenna@warwick.ac.uk

Phone: 024 765 73194

Office: B142

Twitter: Joey_McK

Research Clusters

Plant & Agricultural Biosciences

Cells & Development

Research/Teaching Interests

Plants are the basis of food security and energy / CO₂ capture on planet Earth. The major challenges of climate change and population growth mean that we need to grow 60% more food by 2050 in a period where both cold and warm temperature shocks and extreme weather events are occurring with increased frequency. Therefore, novel insights into harnessing plant growth based on fundamental discoveries are required. One area of unexplored potential is how the individual functional components within the cell (known as organelles) are organised and controlled.

Organelles within plants show rapid and coordinated movement which is critical for normal growth and development as well as enabling the plant to respond to environmental conditions. Organelles are known to change shape and alter their movement during certain stresses, including heat and cold stress. However, we do not know precisely how this movement occurs although we know it is driven by the actin cytoskeleton and special motor proteins.

The actin cytoskeleton is an intricate filamentous network in the cortex of plant cells which, if disrupted, stops organelle movement. My research utilises using specialised microscopy to study how the actin cytoskeleton interacts with organelles, driving movement within the cell.

Research: Technical Summary

Organelle dynamics underpin fundamental processes necessary for life in all organisms. In plants, the secretory pathway (ER and Golgi bodies), nucleus and plastids show high mobility within the cell. This movement is driven by the actin cytoskeleton. If actin is perturbed then organelle movement stops. Moreover, if chimeric myosin motor proteins with faster motor domains are expressed, plant biomass increases. Therefore, organelle dynamics have a fundamental role in plant growth and development as well as biotic and abiotic stresses and could be re-engineered to improve food security.

Using a combination of live cell imaging, image analysis and proximity labelling proteomics I study how organelles interact with the actin cytoskeleton and each other.

Biography

School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, UK

BBSRC Discovery Fellow: 2023 – Onwards
Research Fellow, Frigerio Lab: 2021-2023

Oxford Brookes University, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, UK

PDRA and Light Microscopist: 2016-2020
DRA, Runions Lab: 2013-2016

Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences, UK

DPhil, Analysis of the signalling mechanisms involved in Cell Wall Integrity maintenance in A.thaliana, Hamann Lab: 2009-2013
Res Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology: 2008-2009

University of Birmingham, School of Biosciences

BSc Hons Biological Sciences: 2004-2008

Publications

McKenna, Joseph F. and Graumann, Katja (2023) Studying nuclear dynamics in response to actin disruption in planta. In: The Plant Cytoskeleton. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2604 (2604). Springer, pp. 203-214. ISBN 9781071628669

Richmond, Bethany L., Coelho, Chloe L., Wilkinson, Helen, McKenna, Joseph F., Ratchinski, Pélagie, Schwarze, Maximillian, Frost, Matthew, Lagunas, Beatriz and Gifford, Miriam L. (2022) Elucidating connections between the strigolactone biosynthesis pathway, flavonoid production and root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiologia Plantarum, 174 (2). doi:10.1111/ppl.13681 ISSN 0031-9317.

McKenna, Joseph F. (2022) Quantifying the organization and dynamics of the plant plasma membrane across scales using light microscopy. In: Plasmodesmata. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2457 (2457). Springer, pp. 233-251. ISBN 9781071621318

Kusumaatmaja, Halim, May, Alexander I., Feeney, Mistianne, McKenna, Joseph F., Mizushima, Noboru, Frigerio, Lorenzo and Knorr, Roland L. (2021) Wetting of phase-separated droplets on plant vacuole membranes leads to a competition between tonoplast budding and nanotube formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (36). e2024109118. doi:10.1073/pnas.2024109118 ISSN 0027-8424.

McKenna, Joseph F., Gumber, Hardeep K., Turpin, Zachary M., Jalovec, Alexis M., Kartick, Andre C., Graumann, Katja and Bass, Hank W. (2021) Maize (Zea mays L.) nucleoskeletal proteins regulate nuclear envelope remodeling and function in stomatal complex development and pollen viability. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12 . 645218. doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.645218 ISSN 1664-462X.

McKenna, Joseph F., Rolfe, D. J., Webb, S. E. D., Tolmie, A. F., Botchway, S. W., Martin-Fernandez, M. L., Hawes, C. and Runions, J. (2019) The cell wall regulates dynamics and size of plasma-membrane nanodomains in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (26). pp. 12857-12862. doi:10.1073/pnas.1819077116 ISSN 0027-8424.

Gumber, Hardeep K., McKenna, Joseph F., Tolmie, Andrea F., Jalovec, Alexis M., Kartick, Andre C., Graumann, Katja and Bass, Hank W. (2019) MLKS2 is an ARM domain and F-actin-associated KASH protein that functions in stomatal complex development and meiotic chromosome segregation. Nucleus, 10 (1). pp. 144-166. doi:10.1080/19491034.2019.1629795 ISSN 1949-1034.

Piña Olmos, Sofia, Díaz Torres, Roberto, Elbakrawy, Eman, Hughes, Louise, McKenna, Joseph F., Hill, Mark A., Kadhim, Munira, Ramírez Noguera, Patricia and Bolanos-Garcia, Victor M. (2019) Combinatorial use of chitosan nanoparticles, reversine, and ionising radiation on breast cancer cells associated with mitosis deregulation. Biomolecules, 9 (5). 186. doi:10.3390/biom9050186 ISSN 2218-273X.

Groves, Norman R., McKenna, Joseph F., Evans, David E., Graumann, Katja and Meier, Iris (2019) A nuclear localization signal targets tail-anchored membrane proteins to the inner nuclear envelope in plants. Journal of Cell Science, 132 (7). jcs226134. doi:10.1242/jcs.226134 ISSN 0021-9533.

Gumber, Hardeep K., McKenna, Joseph F., Estrada, Amado L., Tolmie, Andrea F., Graumann, Katja and Bass, Hank W. (2019) Identification and characterization of genes encoding the nuclear envelope LINC complex in the monocot species Zea mays. Journal of Cell Science, 132 (3). jcs221390. doi:10.1242/jcs.221390 ISSN 0021-9533.

McKenna, Joseph F., Webb, Stephen E. D., Kriechbaumer, Verena and Hawes, Chris (2018) Myosin driven actin filament sliding is responsible for endoplasmic reticulum and golgi movement. Working Paper. Cold Spring Harbor: bioRXiv.

Engelsdorf, Timo, Gigli-Bisceglia, Nora, Veerabagu, Manikandan, McKenna, Joseph F., Vaahtera, Lauri, Augstein, Frauke, Van der Does, Dieuwertje, Zipfel, Cyril and Hamann, Thorsten (2018) The plant cell wall integrity maintenance and immune signaling systems cooperate to control stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science Signaling, 11 (536). eaao3070. doi:10.1126/scisignal.aao3070 ISSN 1945-0877.

D'Abrantes, Sofia, Gratton, Sarah, Reynolds, Pamela, Kriechbaumer, Verena, McKenna, Joseph F., Barnard, Stephen, Clarke, Dave T. and Botchway, Stanley W. (2018) Super-resolution nanoscopy imaging applied to DNA double-strand breaks. Radiation Research, 189 (1). pp. 19-31. doi:10.1667/RR14594.1 ISSN 0033-7587.

Tolmie, Frances, Poulet, Axel, McKenna, Joseph F., Sassmann, Stefan, Graumann, Katja, Deeks, Michael, Runions, John and Bozhkov, Peter (2017) The cell wall of Arabidopsis thaliana influences actin network dynamics. Journal of Experimental Botany, 68 (16). pp. 4517-4527. doi:10.1093/jxb/erx269 ISSN 0022-0957.

Cheung, Alice, Van der Does, Dieuwertje, Boutrot, Freddy, Engelsdorf, Timo, Rhodes, Jack, McKenna, Joseph F., Vernhettes, Samantha, Koevoets, Iko, Tintor, Nico, Veerabagu, Manikandan et al.

(2017) The Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2/LRR-KISS connects cell wall integrity sensing, root growth and response to abiotic and biotic stresses. PLoS Genetics, 13 (6). e1006832. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006832 ISSN 1553-7390.

Barton, Kiah A., Schattat, Martin H., Jakob, Torsten, Hause, Gerd, Wilhelm, Christian, McKenna, Joseph F., Máthé, Csaba, Runions, John, Van Damme, Daniel and Mathur, Jaideep (2016) Epidermal pavement cells of Arabidopsis have chloroplasts. Plant Physiology, 171 (2). pp. 723-726. doi:10.1104/pp.16.00608 ISSN 0032-0889.

McKenna, Joseph F., Tolmie, A. Frances and Runions, John (2014) Across the great divide : the plant cell surface continuum. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 22 . pp. 132-140. doi:10.1016/j.pbi.2014.11.004 ISSN 1369-5266.

Engl, Christoph, Waite, Christopher J., McKenna, Joseph F., Bennett, Mark H., Hamann, Thorsten, Buck, Martin and Lindow, Steven (2014) Chp8, a diguanylate cyclase from pseudomonas syringae pv. Tomato DC3000, suppresses the pathogen-associated molecular pattern flagellin, increases extracellular polysaccharides, and promotes plant immune evasion. mBio, 5 (3). e01168-14. doi:10.1128/mBio.01168-14 ISSN 2150-7511.

Wormit, Alexandra, Butt, Salman M., Chairam, Issariya, McKenna, Joseph F., Nunes-Nesi, Adriano, Kjaer, Lars, O’Donnelly, Kerry, Fernie, Alisdair R., Woscholski, Rüdiger, Barter, M.C. Laura and Hamann, Thorsten (2012) Osmosensitive changes of carbohydrate metabolism in response to cellulose biosynthesis inhibition. Plant Physiology, 159 (1). pp. 105-117. doi:10.1104/pp.112.195198 ISSN 0032-0889.

Denness, Lucinda, McKenna, Joseph F., Segonzac, Cecile, Wormit, Alexandra, Madhou, Priya, Bennett, Mark, Mansfield, John, Zipfel, Cyril and Hamann, Thorsten (2011) Cell wall damage-induced lignin biosynthesis is regulated by a reactive oxygen species- and jasmonic acid-dependent process in arabidopsis. Plant Physiology, 156 (3). pp. 1364-1374. doi:10.1104/pp.111.175737 ISSN 0032-0889.

Research Projects

Title	Funder	Award start	Award end
BBSRC Discovery Fellowship-The ties that bind: Organelle-membrane interactions in planta.	BBSRC	01 Sep 2023	31 May 2026
21ENGBIO - Converting a cellular dustbin into a protein storing organelle	BBSRC	15 Feb 2023	31 Mar 2024
A broadly accessible facility microscope to probe nanoscale cellular dynamics by combined live cell super-resolution microscopy and photomanipulation (BBSRC ALERT 2021)	BBSRC	01 Aug 2022	31 Jul 2023

Teaching / Student Supervision