Under sufficient tension and positive torque, DNA is thought to undergo a phase transition with the bases splaying outwards and the phosphates moving to the middle. This proposed structure for overstretched DNA has been called P-form DNA, in honor of Linus Pauling who originally presented it as a possible structure of DNA.
Evidence from mechanical stretching of DNA in the absence of imposed torque points to a transition or transitions leading to further structures which are generally referred to as S-form DNA.  These structures have not yet been definitively characterised due to the difficulty of carrying out atomic-resolution imaging in solution while under applied force although many computer simulation studies have been made  (for example,).
Proposed S-DNA structures include those which preserve base-pair stacking and hydrogen bonding (GC-rich), while releasing extension by tilting, as well as structures in which partial melting of the base-stack takes place, while base-base association is nonetheless overall preserved (AT-rich).
Periodic fracture of the base-pair stack with a break occurring once per three bp (therefore one out of every three bp-bp steps) has been proposed as a regular structure which preserves planarity of the base-stacking and releases the appropriate amount of extension, with the term "Σ-DNA" introduced as a mnemonic, with the three right-facing points of the Sigma character serving as a reminder of the three grouped base pairs. The Σ form has been shown to have a sequence preference for GNC motifs which are believed under the GNC hypothesis to be of evolutionary importance.