ABSTRACT This work is centered in the pigment dispersing hormone (PDH) as a key substance in the circadian clock machinery. It begins reviewing the pioneering studies about a substance involved in color changes and some circadian behaviors in crustaceans. The review includes the main results about the PDH distribution, biochemistry and putative role of this hormone in some physiological processes in Crustacea. These same themes are revised in insects in reference to pigment dispersing factors (PDFs). As recently molecular biology studies have bloomed spectacularly, special attention is done to these research studies in relation to the role of PDF with the genes involved in the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster.
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