Density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to study the conformational dependence of P-31 chemical shift tensors in B-DNA. The gg and gt conformations of backbone phosphate groups representing B-I-and B-II-DNA have been examined. Calculations have been carried out on static models of dimethyl phosphate (dmp) and dinucleoside-3',5'-monophosphate with bases replaced by hydrogen atoms in vacuo as well as in an explicit solvent. Trends in P-31 chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensors with respect to the backbone torsion angles alpha, zeta, beta, and epsilon are presented. Although these trends do not change qualitatively upon solvation, quantitative changes result in the reduction of the chemical shift anisotropy. For alpha and zeta in the range from 270 degrees to 330 degrees and from 240 degrees to 300 degrees, respectively, the delta(22) and delta(33) principal components vary within as much as 30 ppm, showing a marked dependence on backbone conformation. The calculated P-31 chemical shift tensor principal axes deviate from the axes of O-P-O bond angles by at most 5 degrees. For solvent models, our results are in a good agreement with experimental estimates of relative gg and gt isotropic chemical shifts. Solvation also brings the theoretical delta(iso) of the gg conformation closer to the experimental gg data of barium diethyl phosphate.