To evaluate the effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) control strategy on cell growth and the production of antibiotic (cyclo(2-Me-BABA-Gly)) by Xenorhabdus nematophila. The effects of different agitation speeds and DO concentrations on cell growth and antibiotic activity of X. nematophila YL001 were examined. Experiments showed that higher agitation speeds and DO concentrations at earlier fermentation stage were favorable for cell growth and antibiotic production. At mid- and later-stage, properly decreasing DO concentration can strengthen cell growth and antibiotic production. Based on the kinetic information about the effects of agitation speeds and DO concentrations on the fermentation, the two-stage DO control strategy in which DO concentration was controlled to 70% in the first 18 h, and then switched to 50% after 18 h, was established to improve the biomass and antibiotic activity. By applying this DO-shift strategy in X. nematophila YL001 fermentation, maximal antibiotic activity and biomass reached 252.0 +/- 6.10 U/mL and 30.04 +/- 2.50 g/L, respectively, thus was 18.99% and 15.36% more than in the cultures at constantly 50% DO. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.