Urea is a drop-in nitrogen source alternative to ammonium sulphate in Yarrowia lipolytica
Journal article, 2022

Media components, including the nitrogen source, are significant cost factors in cultivation processes. The nitrogen source also influences cell behavior and production performance. Ammonium sulfate is a widely used nitrogen source for microorganisms’ cultivation. Urea is a sustainable and cheap alternative nitrogen source. We investigated the influence of urea as a nitrogen source compared to ammonium sulfate by cultivating phenotypically different Yarrowia lipolytica strains in chemostats under carbon or nitrogen limitation. We found no significant coherent changes in growth and lipid production. RNA sequencing revealed no significant concerted changes in the transcriptome. The genes involved in urea uptake and degradation are not upregulated on a transcriptional level. Our findings support urea usage, indicating that previous metabolic engineering efforts where ammonium sulfate was used are likely translatable to the usage of urea and can ease the way for urea as a cheap and sustainable nitrogen source in more applications.

Applied microbiology

Microbiology

Biological sciences

Author

Oliver Konzock

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Simone Zaghen

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Jing Fu

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Eduard Kerkhoven

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

iScience

25890042 (eISSN)

Vol. 25 12 105703

Subject Categories

Other Environmental Engineering

Other Biological Topics

Microbiology

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2022.105703

PubMed

36567708

More information

Latest update

1/3/2024 9