Vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip3A) production by Bacillus thuringiensis Bt294 and its efficacy against Lepidopteran pests (Spodoptera exigua)

•The wild-type bacterial strain of Bacillus thuringiensis, which can produce high titer of Vip3A protein.•High Vip3A yield produced by a wild type Bacillus thuringiensis Bt294 used in organic agriculture.•Optimized culture media composition triggered Vip3A protein production by Bacillus thuringiensis Bt294.•Low LC50 of Vip3A protein used for Spodoptera exigua control which lower the cost of the protein and lead to potentially scale up of the production process. A vegetative insecticidal protein, Vip3A, is highly active against lepidopteran pests, which are the most important pests in most tropical countries. An important aspect of the successful commercial production of this bacterial insecticide is the development of bacterial culture media that maximize the titres of this protein and cost reduction. This study aimed to investigate and optimize Vip3A production by Bacillus thuringiensis Bt294 using statistical methods and 3-step sequential approaches. The experimental design showed that the production of Vip3A was maximized to 300 mg/L when the bacterium was cultivated in medium composed of 5.05 g/L glycerol, 49.17 g/L soytone, 30.05 g/L casein hydrolysate, 1.99 g/L CaCl2.2H2O, 7.5 mg/L CuSO4, 15 mg/L MnSO4.H2O, 9.4 g/L K2HPO4, 2.2 g/L KH2PO4, 0.2 g/L MgSO4.7H2O, 5 g/L yeast extract, 2.5 mg/L NiCl2.6H2O and 3 mL/L vitamin solution. B. thuringiensis Bt294 Vip3A toxin was highly toxic to Spodoptera exigua with LC50 values of 187.1 ng/cm2 at 7 days. This result demonstrated that a high titre of Vip3A produced by B. thuringiensis Bt294 will be useful as a biological control agent. This optimization will allow production to be scaled up for commercial production in the future.