Onywera H, Williamson AL, Cozzuto L, et al. - Given a significant reduction in the risk of acquiring human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in correlation with undergoing circumcision, researchers here sought for the relationship of the penile microbiota with HPV. They used Illumina sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene to determine the penile skin microbiota of 238 men from Cape Town (South Africa). The most abundant genera were Corynebacterium and Prevotella. They identified six distinct community state types (CSTs). Relative to CSTs 2–6, CST-1, dominated by Corynebacterium, corresponded to less infections with high-risk HPV (HR-HPV). Greater relative abundances of Prevotella, Clostridiales, and Porphyromonas and a lower relative abundance of Corynebacterium were observed in men in CST-5. Moreover, significantly more likelihood to have HPV or HR-HPV infections was observed among these men vs men in CST-1. A machine learning approach revealed greater relative abundances of the anaerobic BV-associated bacteria (Prevotella, Peptinophilus, and Dialister) and lower relative abundance of Corynebacterium in HR-HPV-infected men vs HR-HPV-uninfected men. These findings suggest significant differences in the penile microbiota composition of men with and without HPV and HIV infections. Further, the findings suggest the possibility that these taxa could raise the susceptibility to HIV and HR-HPV acquisition, in addition to creating conditions in which infections persist.