A sheet-like structure in the proximity of compact DNA

Abstract

We determine the phase diagram of DNA with inter- and intra-strand native-pair interactions that mimic the compaction of DNA. We show that DNA takes an overall sheet-like structure in the region where an incipient transition to a compact phase would have occurred. The stability of this phase is due to the extra entropy from the folding of the sheet, which is absent in the remaining polymer-like states of the phase diagram.