Tuning of the Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratio for the Production of l-Arginine by Escherichia coli

l-arginine, an amino acid with a growing range of applications within the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and agricultural industries, can be produced by microbial fermentation. Although it is the most nitrogen-rich amino acid, reports on the nitrogen supply for its fermentation are scarce. In this study, the nitrogen supply for the production of l-arginine by a genetically modified Escherichia coli strain was optimised in bioreactors. Different nitrogen sources were screened and ammonia solution, ammonium sulphate, ammonium phosphate dibasic, and ammonium chloride were the most favourable nitrogen sources for l-arginine synthesis. The key role of the C/N ratio for l-arginine production was demonstrated for the first time. The optimal C/N molar ratio to maximise l-arginine production while minimising nitrogen waste was found to be 6, yielding approximately 2.25 g/L of l-arginine from 15 g/L glucose with a productivity of around 0.11 g/L/h. Glucose and ammonium ion were simultaneously utilized, showing that this ratio provided a well-balanced equilibrium between carbon and nitrogen metabolisms.