Macromolecular Condensates: From Globules to Toroids and Beyond

Current understanding of polymer chains in solvents is limited almost exclusively to fully flexible polymers with very simple backbones. This describes only a small range of synthetic polymers and is a totally inadequate model for all biopolymers. Our aim is to understand the structure, particularly the internal structure, of polymer globules with significant backbone rigidity. Example include DNA and actin, which forms the framework for many cells. The backbone rigidity induces toroid formation, but even in the case where the globule is spherical there is significant internal structure with strong correlations across the whole globule. The major significance will be a fundamental understanding of the detailed structure of biopolymers.