Preparation of phytosphingosine derivative

摘要

The invention concerns a process for preparing tetraacetylphytospingosine (TAPS) using F-60-10 mating type strain of Pichia ciferrii. Such strain is subjected to mutagenesis and the high TAPS producing strains are selected by a special procedure. These strains are grown in a fed batch mode on a non-fermentative carbon source at a temperature above 26 DEG C and the TAPS collected from the fermentation medium. Glycerol is a preferred carbon source and preferably L-serine is added to the culture medium.