Comparative analysis of the plasma metabolome of migrating passerines: Novel insights into stopover metabolism

During long-distance migration, many birds experience periods of either prolonged fasting (during endurance flights) or extensive feeding (during stopovers). Despite decades of research on avian metabolism during migration, many questions have remained unanswered, as such research mainly focused on targeted metabolites and fat metabolism. Here, we examined the plasma-metabolome of two migrating passerine species before they crossed the Sahara Desert. Birds were sampled at two sites populated by Pistacia trees bearing fat-rich fruits and at an additional site dominated by blooming Eucalyptus trees. The blood samples were analyzed using both GC-MS and LC-MS, using an untargeted approach. Examination of metabolic pathways activated during stopovers indicated a crucial role for cycling glucose through the Cori and Cahill cycles in resting and recovery processes. This novel perspective, conducted on free-ranging birds, suggests the evolution of avian insulin resistance due to factors such as..., , , # Comparative analysis of the plasma metabolome of migrating passerines: Novel insights into stopover metabolism

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The files presented here are untargeted metabolomic data for lipid (LC-MS) and polar (GC-MS) metabolites. The files GC_MS and LC_MS present the intensities of analytes in birds plasma.

## Description of the Data and file structure

GCblood_FACTORS_UN - Untargeted metabolomic data, extracted using GC-MS. Columns A-J are the relevant factors for the collected birds, and columns K-PH are the analytes names, including annotations when possible.

Lipid_blood_FACTORS_UN - Untargeted metabolomic data, extracted using LC-MS. Columns A-I are the relevant factors for the collected birds, columns J-RC are the analytes' names, including annotations when possible.

aminoAcid_All - targeted metabolomic data, extracted using GC-MS, Columns A-H are the relevant factors for the collected birds, columns I-V are the annotated amino acids.

Three files represent the relative intensity of...