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A serovar or serotype is a group of microorganisms or virus
Virus

A virus is a Optical microscope#Limitations of light microscopes infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell . Viruses infect all cellular life....
es classified together based on their cell surface antigen
Antigen

An antigen is a substance that prompts the generation of antibodies and can cause an immune response. The word originated from the notion that they can stimulate antibody generation....
s. Serovars allow the epidemiologic classification of organisms to the sub-species level. A group of serovars with common antigens is called a serogroup.

Serovars may be established based on virulence factors
Virulence

Virulence refers to the degree of pathogenicity of an organism, or in other words the relative ability of a pathogen to cause disease.The word virulent, which is the adjective for virulence, derives from the Latin word virulentus, which means "full of poison." From an ecology point of view, virulence can be defined as the host's p...
, lipopolysaccharide
Lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharides , also known as lipoglycans, are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide joined by a covalent bond; they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, act as endotoxins and elicit strong immune responses in animals....
s in Gram-negative
Gram-negative

Gram-negative bacteria are those bacteria that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. In a Gram stain test, a counterstain is added after the crystal violet, coloring all Gram-negative bacteria with a red or pink color....
 bacteria, presence of an exotoxin
Exotoxin

An exotoxin is a toxin excreted by a microrganism, including bacterium, fungi, algae, and protozoa. An exotoxin can cause damage to the host by destroying cells or disrupting normal cellular metabolism....
 (pertussis toxin
Pertussis toxin

Pertussis toxin is a protein-based AB5 toxin exotoxin produced by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough. PT is involved in the colonization of the respiratory tract and the establishment of infection....
 in Bordetella pertussis
Bordetella pertussis

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, Aerobic_organism coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough....
, for example), plasmid
Plasmid

File:plasmid .svgA plasmid is an extra-chromosomal DNA molecule separate from the chromosome which is capable of replicating independently of the chromosomal DNA....
s, phages, or other characteristics which differentiate two members of the same species.






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A serovar or serotype is a group of microorganisms or virus
Virus

A virus is a Optical microscope#Limitations of light microscopes infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell . Viruses infect all cellular life....
es classified together based on their cell surface antigen
Antigen

An antigen is a substance that prompts the generation of antibodies and can cause an immune response. The word originated from the notion that they can stimulate antibody generation....
s. Serovars allow the epidemiologic classification of organisms to the sub-species level. A group of serovars with common antigens is called a serogroup.

Serovars may be established based on virulence factors
Virulence

Virulence refers to the degree of pathogenicity of an organism, or in other words the relative ability of a pathogen to cause disease.The word virulent, which is the adjective for virulence, derives from the Latin word virulentus, which means "full of poison." From an ecology point of view, virulence can be defined as the host's p...
, lipopolysaccharide
Lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharides , also known as lipoglycans, are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide joined by a covalent bond; they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, act as endotoxins and elicit strong immune responses in animals....
s in Gram-negative
Gram-negative

Gram-negative bacteria are those bacteria that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. In a Gram stain test, a counterstain is added after the crystal violet, coloring all Gram-negative bacteria with a red or pink color....
 bacteria, presence of an exotoxin
Exotoxin

An exotoxin is a toxin excreted by a microrganism, including bacterium, fungi, algae, and protozoa. An exotoxin can cause damage to the host by destroying cells or disrupting normal cellular metabolism....
 (pertussis toxin
Pertussis toxin

Pertussis toxin is a protein-based AB5 toxin exotoxin produced by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough. PT is involved in the colonization of the respiratory tract and the establishment of infection....
 in Bordetella pertussis
Bordetella pertussis

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, Aerobic_organism coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough....
, for example), plasmid
Plasmid

File:plasmid .svgA plasmid is an extra-chromosomal DNA molecule separate from the chromosome which is capable of replicating independently of the chromosomal DNA....
s, phages, or other characteristics which differentiate two members of the same species.

Salmonella
Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteriaceae that causes typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and the foodborne illness salmonellosis....
, for example, has over 4400 serovars: Salmonella enterica
Salmonella enterica

Salmonella enterica is a rod shaped, flagellated, Gram-negative bacterium, and a member of the genus Salmonella....
 serovar Typhimurium, S. enterica serovar Typhi, and S. enterica serovar Dublin, to name a few.

Vibrio cholerae
Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae is a motile gram negative curved-rod shaped bacterium with a polar flagellum that causes cholera in humans. V. cholerae and other species of the genus Vibrio belong to the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria....
, which causes cholera
Cholera

Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae....
, has 139 serotypes, based on cell antigens. Only two of them produce an enterotoxin and are pathogens: 0:1 and 0:139.

Serotypes were discovered by the American microbiologist Rebecca Lancefield
Rebecca Lancefield

Rebecca Craighill Lancefield was a prominent United States microbiologist. She joined the Rockefeller University in New York in 1918 and was associated to that institute throughout her long and outstanding career....
 in 1933.

See also

  • Biovar
    Biovar

    A biovar is a variant prokaryotic Strain that differs physiologically and/or biochemically from other strains in a particular species. Morphovars are those strains that differ physiologically....
  • Morphovar