Vesicle-Cloaked Virus Clusters Are Optimal Units for Inter-organismal Viral Transmission

In enteric viral infections, such as those with rotavirus and norovirus, individual viral particles shed in stool are considered the optimal units of fecal-oral transmission. We reveal that rotaviruses and noroviruses are also shed in stool as viral clusters enclosed within vesicles that deliver a high inoculum to the receiving host. Cultured cells non-lytically release rotaviruses and noroviruses inside extracellular vesicles. In addition, stools of infected hosts contain norovirus and rotavirus within vesicles of exosomal or plasma membrane origin. These vesicles remain intact during fecal-oral transmission and thereby transport multiple viral particles collectively to the next host, enhancing both the MOI and disease severity. Vesicle-cloaked viruses are non-negligible populations in stool and have a disproportionately larger contribution to infectivity than free viruses. Our findings indicate that vesicle-cloaked viruses are highly virulent units of fecal-oral transmission and highlight a need for antivirals targeting vesicles and virus clustering. Freely disseminating standalone viral particles are considered the optimal agents for spreading infection. Santiana et al. discover that enteric viruses are also shed in feces as viral clusters cloaked in vesicles. These virus-containing vesicles are a more potent infectious form that enhances the MOI and disease severity

Harmonized in situ datasets for agricultural land use mapping and monitoring in tropical countries

The availability of crop type reference datasets for satellite image classification is very limited for complex agricultural systems as observed in developing and emerging countries. Indeed, agricultural land use is very dynamic, agricultural censuses are often poorly georeferenced and crop types are difficult to interpret directly from satellite imagery. In this paper, we present a database made of 24 datasets collected in a standardized manner over nine sites within the framework of the international JECAM (Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring) initiative; the sites were spread over seven countries of the tropical belt, and the number of data collection years depended on the site (from 1 to 7 years between 2013 and 2020). These qualitycontrolled datasets are distinguished by in situ data collected at the field scale by local experts, with precise geographic coordinates, and following a common protocol. Altogether, the datasets completed 27 074 polygons (20 257 crops and 6817 noncrops, ranging from 748 plots in 2013 (one site visited) to 5515 in 2015 (six sites visited)) documented by detailed keywords. These datasets can be used to produce and validate agricultural land use maps in the tropics. They can also be used to assess the performances and robustness of classification methods of cropland and crop types/practices in a large range of tropical farming systems. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.18167/DVN1/P7OLAP (Jolivot et al., 2021)