ABSTRACT
In the system used for the double-stranded DNA CLCD (cholesteric liquid-crystalline dispersions) formation, the packing mode of DNA molecules in the particles of dispersion is determined at the “moment of their recognition” during the approach of the DNA molecules, which have phosphate groups neutralized by counterions. After formation of the particles of DNA CLCD, the mutual orientation of the DNA in these particles is constrained, although DNA molecules retain some diffusion degrees of freedom in quasinematic layers. This means that the osmotic pressure of the PEG solution, determined by PEG concentration, controls the packing mode of neighboring, linear, rigid, native DNA molecules in particles [1, 2]. The constant osmotic pressure of the solution determines not only a constant spatial structure of the DNA CLCD particles and, consequently, a ¤xed distance between DNA molecules in the quasinematic layers, but a ¤xed value of the amplitude of an abnormal band in the CD spectrum in the DNA absorption region.
