A novel control method with automatic tuning of PID controller parameters has been developed for efficient regulation of dissolved oxygen concentration in fed-batch fermentations of Escherichia coli. Agitation speed and oxygen partial pressure in the inlet gas stream were chosen to be the manipulated variables. A heuristic reasoning allowed improved tuning decisions from the supervision of control performance indices and it coule obviate the needs for process assumptions or disturbance patterns. The control input consisted of feedback and feedforword parts. The feedback part was determined by PID control and the feedforward part is determined from the feed rate. The proportional gain was updated on-line by a set of heuristics rules based on the supervision of three performance indices. These indices were output error covariance, the average value of output error, and input covariance, which were calculated on-line using a moving window. The integral and derivative time constants were determined from the period of output response. The specific growth rate was maintained at a low level to avoid acetic acid accumulation and thus to achieve a high cell density. The specific growthe rate was estimated from the carbon dioxide evolution rate. In fed-batch fermentation, the simutaneous control of dissolved oxygen concentration (at 0.2; fraction of saturated value) and specific growth rate (at 0.25$hr^{-1}$) was satisfactory for the entire culture period in spite of the changes in the feed rate and the switching of control input.