Fig. 3

Pie chart representation of methanogen 16S rRNA gene clone distribution. The smithii-gottschalkii-milleraethaurei-thaurei (SGMT) clade consists of sequences that phylogenetically group within the major clade consisting of M. smithii, M. gottschalkii, M. millerae, and M. thaueri. Similarly, the phylogenetic group consists of M. ruminantium and M. olleyae sequences are represented in the ruminantium-olleyae (RO) clade. The TM and GM stand for Tibetan sheep and Gansu Alpine Finewool sheep rumen methanogen 16S rRNA gene libraries, respectively