ABSTRACTA heterogeneous subset of extraintestinal pathogenicEscherichia coli(ExPEC) strains, referred to as uropathogenicE. coli(UPEC), causes most uncomplicated urinary tract infections. However, no core set of virulence factors exists among UPEC strains. Instead, the focus of the analysis of urovirulence has shifted to studying broad classes of virulence factors and the interactions between them. For example, the RTX nonfimbrial adhesin TosA mediates adherence to host cells derived from the upper urinary tract. The associatedtosoperon is well expressedin vivobut poorly expressedin vitroand encodes TosCBD, a predicted type 1 secretion system. TosR and TosEF are PapB and LuxR family transcription factors, respectively; however, no role has been assigned to these potential regulators. Thus, the focus of this study was to determine how TosR and TosEF regulatetosAand affect the reciprocal expression of adhesins and flagella. Among a collection of sequenced UPEC strains, 32% (101/317) were found to encode TosA, and nearly all strains (91% [92/101]) simultaneously carried the putative regulatory genes. Deletion oftosRalleviatestosArepression. Thetospromoter was localized upstream oftosRusing transcriptional fusions of putative promoter regions withlacZ. TosR binds to this region, affecting a gel shift. A 100-bp fragment 220 to 319 bp upstream oftosRinhibits binding, suggesting localization of the TosR binding site. TosEF, on the other hand, downmodulate motility when overexpressed by preventing the expression offliC, encoding flagellin. Deletion oftosEFincreased motility. Thus, we present an additional example of the reciprocal control of adherence and motility.