In order to elucidate the effect of acetate ion on the growth of Escherichia coli, flask and fermentor cultures were performed using M9 and LB media. Acetic acid was secreted at a higher rate under the conditions of high glucose concentration as well as of richer medium, i. e., LB broth. The pH in flask culture could not be controlled as i fermentor and pH decreased with the formation of acetic acid. The inhibition effect of acetic acid was pronounced at a lower pH, and the effective inhibitory concentrations of acetic acid were 2.0g/l for LB flask culture, 4.0g/l for M9 flask culture, and 8.0g/l for M9 fermentor culture. Dialysis flask culture was designed to slowly provide E coli cells with glucose. Solid LB agar was layered under LB liquid medium with the variation of agar concentration and solid volume, The increase in the solid portion in the total volume(agar＋liquid) resulted in the increase of the final cell concentration. This can be ascribed to the fact that the larger solid phase behaves like a larger reservoir for glucose and controls the growth of E. coli with a controlled rate.