Chaban and Hill (2012) investigated the type II chaperonin
(known as the thermosome, TF55, CCT, or TCP-1)
as a potential universal target for archaea. Phylogenies
based on type II chaperonin were not only in nice
agreement with 16S rRNA gene phylogenies but also
afforded improved resolution of closely related taxa.
These universal thermosome primers were applied to
profile the archaeal community of cow rumen in parallel
with 16S rRNA and mcrA gene. Clone libraries as well
as pyrosequencing profile revealed that all three targets
consistently detected M. smithii, M. ruminantium, and
Methanosphaera stadtmanae as the dominant constituents
of cow rumen. However, type II chaperonin gene
sequences were more diverse than other two targets thus
resulting in better phylogenetic resolution.