A biliprotein from the digestive juice of Bombyx Mori L. Its purification and partial structural study of the chromophore

1. 1. A blue-colored, red-fluorescent protein was purified from the digestive juice of silkworm, Bombyx mori L. 2. 2. The chromoprotein and its chromophore show well-defined absorption peaks at 278 and 605 mμ, and 495 and 575 mμ respectively. 3. 3. The chromoprotein and chromophore were negative to Gmelin, Ehrlich, diazo- and Carr-Price tests but were positive to the chromium oxide-chlorine-benzidine test for pyrrole. 4. 4. Chemical and spectral results obtained, together with the previous findings mentioned in the text, suggest that this chromoprotein is a biliprotein, probably formed in the midgut of the silkworm from the chlorophyll lipoprotein complex of mulberry leaves.