Effects of IPTG induction on cell growth and production of ${eta}-galactosidase-preS2$ fusion protein (${eta}gal-preS2$) were studied in a defined medium using a recombinant Escherichia coli JM109/pCMHB30. IPTG was added (0.2 mM) to induce the cloned-gene expression in the early-, mid-, and late-log growth phases. The most serious decreases in growth rate and plasmid stability were observed for the induction in the early-log growth phase. The expression level of ${eta}gal-preS2$ attained by the induction in the mid-log phase was about 0.51 mg fusion protein/mg total cellular protein, which was 2- and 5-fold improvement over the levels obtained with the inductions in the early- and late-log phases. Formation of acidic byproducts including acetate and pyruvate showed different profiles during the fermentation period for each cases of induction; pyruvate was the major byproduct for the induction in the early-log phase while acetate production became more significant for the cases of inductions in the mid- and late-log phases.