While the viability of freeze-dried preparations of Rhodosporidium toruloides strains was being checked, colorless colonies (white) appeared spontaneously from Rhodosporidium toruloides YK 212 (mating type A2) on YM agar plates. The basidiomycetous yeast genera Rhodosporidium and Leucosporidium are placed in the group of teliospore-forming yeasts, and they are distinguished by production of visible carotenoid pigments (1). The two genera are similar in metabasidial morphology (2, 3), life cycles (2, 3), and some chemotaxonomic characters (4-13). Our analysis of the colorless variant from Rhodosporidium toruloides indicates a closer relationship between Rhodosporidium and Leucosporidium. This paper deals with identification of a colorless variant from R. toruloides and analyzes the taxonomic implication of carotenoid pigments in these genera.Rhodosporidium toruloides YK 201 (Holotype; mating type Al), an orangecolored strain YK 212A, and a colorless strain YK 212B evolved spontaneously from R. toruloides YK 212 were used in this study. Rhodosporidium toruloides strain YK 212 was originally isolated as Torula koishikawensis Okunuki No. 12(14), subsequently reidentified as Rhodotorula glutinis by HASEGAWA (15), then included by BANNO (16) in the species R, toruloides, based on the teleomorphic state.The standard methods described by VAN DER WALT and YARROW (17) were used for phenotypic characterization. The urease test was performed on ' Abbreviations of culture collections are as follows: IAM , Institute of Applied Microbiology, The