Cloning and expression of the insecticidal toxin gene “tccB” from Photorhabdus temperata M1021 in Escherichia coli expression system

•Cosmid library of gDNA of M1021 was constructed and inserted into E. coli.•Bioactive clone“PtC28” was selected and tested against G. mellonella larvae.•The toxicity of PtC28 was due to the tccB gene encoding TccB toxin.•The tccB gene was inserted in pET21a(+) and pEAra vectors and expressed in E. coli.•The recombinant inclusion bodies were denatured and refolded to get active toxin.