The plasmid-borne hipBA operon of Klebsiella michiganensis encodes a potent plasmid stabilization system.

We provide the first evidence of the role of a plasmid-encoded HipBA system in stability of mobile genetic elements and analyze the presence of HipBA across the KoSC. These results expand our knowledge of both a common enterobacterial TA system and a highly medically-relevant group of bacteria.