The results of ab initio molecular orbital calculations of excited states and electronic couplings (for energy transfer) between the B800 and B850 bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl) chromophores in the peripheral light-harvesting complex (LH2) of the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila are reported. Electronic couplings are estimated from "supermolecule" calculations of Bchl dimers using the CI-singles methodology and 3-21G" or 6-31G" basis sets. A scheme for dissecting the coupling into contributions from the Coulombic coupling and the short-range coupling (i.e., dependent on interchromophore orbital overlap) is reported. B850 couplings are calculated to be [total (Coulombic + short)]: intrapolypeptide dimer 320 (265 + 55) cm(-1) and interpolypeptide dimer 255 (195 + 60) cm(-1) at the CIS/6-31G* level. These results differ significantly from those estimated using the point dipole approximation. The effect of including Mg ligands (His residues) and H-bonding residues (Trp and Tyr) is also investigated. The consequences for superradiance and energy transfer dynamics and mechanism are discussed.