Serotype or serovar refers to distinct variations within a species of bacteria or viruses or among immune cells of different individuals. These microorganisms, viruses, or cells are classified together based on their cell surface antigens, allowing the epidemiologic classification of organisms to the sub-species level. A group of serovars with common antigens is called a serogroup.
Serotyping often plays an essential role in determining species and subspecies. The Salmonella genus of bacteria, for example, has been determined to have over 4400 serotypes, including Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, S. enterica serovar Typhi, and S. enterica serovar Dublin. Vibrio cholerae, the species of bacteria that causes cholera, has over 200 serotypes, based on cell antigens. Only two of them have been observed to produce the potent enterotoxin that results in cholera: 0:1 and 0:139.
Serotypes were discovered by the American microbiologist Rebecca Lancefield in 1933.
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