Group-specific CSIs are commonly shared by different species belonging to a particular taxon (e.g. genus, family, class, order, phylum) but they are not present in other groups. These CSIs were most likely introduced in an ancestor of the group of species before the members of the taxa diverged. They provide molecular means for distinguishing members of a particular taxon from all other organisms.
Figure 1  shows an example of 5aa CSI found in all species belonging to the taxon X. This is a distinctive characteristic of this taxon as it is not found in any other species. This signature was likely introduced in a common ancestor of the species from this taxon. Similarly other group-specific signatures (not shown) could be shared by either A1 and A2 or B1 and B2, etc., or even by X1 and X2 or by X3 and X4, etc. The groups A, B, C, D and X, in this diagram could correspond to various bacterial or Eukaryotic phyla.
Group-specific CSIs have been used in the past to determine the phylogenetic relationship of a number of bacterial phyla and subgroups within it. For example a 3 amino acid insert was uniquely shared by members of the phylum Thermotogota (formerly Thermotogae) in the essential 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12, within a highly conserved region (82-124 amino acid). This is not present in any other bacteria species and could be used to characterize members of Thermotogota from all other bacteria. Group-specific CSIs were also used to characterize subgroups within Thermotogota.