DNA rigidity is an important physical property originating from the DNA three-dimensional structure. Although the general DNA rigidity patterns in human promoters have been investigated, their distinct roles in transcription are largely unknown. In this paper, we discover four highly distinct human promoter groups based on similarity of their rigidity profiles. First, we find that all promoter groups conserve relatively rigid DNAs at the canonical $TATA$ box [a consensus $TATA\left(A/T\right)A\left(A/T\right)$ sequence] position, which are important physical signals in binding transcription factors. Second, we find that the genes activated by each group of promoters share significant biological functions based on their gene ontology annotations. Finally, we find that these human promoter groups correlate with the tissue-specific gene expression.

• Received 7 June 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.80.041917