| Summary: | 1 All animals host a microbial community within and on their reproductive organs, known as the reproductive microbiome. In free-living birds, studies on the sexual transmission of bacteria have typically focused on a few pathogens instead of the bacterial community as a whole, despite a potential link to reproductive function. Theory predicts higher sexual transmission of the reproductive microbiome in females via the males’ ejaculates and higher rates of transmission in promiscuous systems. 2 We studied the cloacal microbiome of breeding individuals of a socially polyandrous, sex-role-reversed shorebird, the red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius ). We expected (i) higher microbial diversity in females compared to males; (ii) low compositional differentiation between sexes; (iii) lower intraspecific variation in females than in males; (iv) convergence in composition as the breeding season progresses as a consequence of sexual transmission and/or shared habitat use; and, (v) higher similarity in microbial composition between social pair members than between two random opposite-sex individuals. 3 We found no or small between-sex differences in cloacal microbiome diversity/richness and composition. Variation in the composition of predicted functional pathways was lower in females than in males. As predicted, variation in microbiome composition decreased with sampling date relative to clutch initiation of the social pair. Microbiome composition was significantly more similar among social pair members than among two random opposite-sex individuals. Pair membership explained 21.5% of the variation in taxonomic composition and 10.1% of functional profiles, whereas temporal and sex effects explained only 0.6-1.6%. Consistent with evidence of functional convergence of reproductive microbiomes within pairs, some select taxa and predicted functional pathways were less variable between social pair members than between random opposite-sex individuals. 4 As predicted if sexual transmission of the reproductive microbiome is ...
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