We have isolated a microorganism (strain 618A-01) from pollen which has the ability to produce erythritol when grown in the presence of glucose as the carbon source. When cultivated in a medium consisting of 20% glucose and 1% dried bouillon in a shake flask, 75 g/l erythritol was produced after 950 h, corresponding to a 37.5% yield against glucose consumption. No other polyols, including glycerol, were detected in the medium. Positive-ion fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and 1H- and 13C-NMR analyses confirmed that the fermentation product was erythritol. Scanning electron microscopic analysis clearly demonstrated that the cells grown on YPD medium at 30 degrees C showed yeast-like morphology, while they appeared like hyphae at 37 degrees C. The complete 18S rRNA sequence of the isolate was determined, which showed high identity (99.5%) with the genus Ustilago of the phylum Basidiomycota. The data strongly suggest that strain 618A-01 belongs to the class Ustilaginomycetes. The culture conditions for the production of erythritol by the isolate were examined. The use of medium containing 1% tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract and 0.5% NaCl yielded the highest cell growth and erythritol productivity among the media tested. Continuous glucose feeding at 6-7% to the fermentor further increased the production of erythritol, and we obtained a maximal 100 g/l erythritol after 530 h, with a 39.3% yield.