Urea is a drop-in nitrogen source alternative to ammonium sulphate in Yarrowia lipolytica

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.

Automated summary

The study suggests that urea can be used as an alternative nitrogen source to ammonium sulfate without significant effects on growth and lipid production of Yarrowia lipolytica strains. There were no coherent changes in the transcriptome indicating that metabolic engineering efforts using ammonium sulfate may also apply to urea usage.