Pigment containing lipid vesicles. I. Preparation and characterization of chlorophyll a-lecithin vesicles.

Vesicles obtained by sonication of chlorophyll a-lecithin mixtures dispersed in anaqueous medium closely resemble the well-characterized vesicles similarly prepared from pure lipids. They are bounded by one spherical lipid bilayer which contains the chlorophyll a. Appropriate conditions for sonication prevent substantial degradation of the membrane constituents. Up to one chlorophyll a molecule per 55 lecithins can be incorporated into membranes. The average Stokes' radius of the vesicles determined by analytical sieve chromatography is 102 +/- 5 A and independent of the chloropyll a content. The membrane is visible in the electron-microscope when the vesicles are treated with osmium tetroxide prior to negative staining. The osmium fixation is, however, not strong enough to allow for a preparation of the vesicles for thin sectioning (dehydration, embedding in epoxide).