Giant circular dichroism of high molecular weight chlorophyllide-apomyoglobin complexes

Chlorophyllide a and the apoprotein of myoglobin (Mb) spontaneously form three types of complex. The M (M(r) approximately 3 x 10(5)) and H (M(r) >/= 4 x 10(6)) complexes, but not the L (M(r) approximately 1.7 x 10(4)), display a circular dichroism (CD) spectrum that is highly red-shifted, nonconservative, and very intense-characteristics shared by the CD spectra of reaction center complexes from purple photosynthetic bacteria. At its 710-nm peak, the H complex CD spectrum has a larger magnitude, 0.06 differential absorbance per unit total absorbance, than has been reported for chlorophyll in any medium.