A 26-kDa outer membrane protein, OmpK, common to Vibrio species is the receptor for a broad-host-range vibriophage, KVP40.

KVP40 is a broad-host-range vibriophage forming plaques on strains of at least eight Vibrio and one Photobacterium species. A spontaneous KVP40-resistant mutant, R4000, derived from Vibrio parahaemolyticus 1010 lacked a 26-kDa outer membrane protein designated OmpK. KVP40 was inactivated by outer membrane and OmpK prepared from 1010, but not by outer membrane from R4000. These results strongly suggest that OmpK is the receptor for KVP40. Immunoblotting analyses using an anti-OmpK rabbit serum revealed that OmpK or its homologs of molecular masses 25-29 kDa were distributed widely among Vibrio and Photobacterium strains including those naturally resistant to KVP40.