Fatty acid hydroperoxide-producing lipoxygenase (LOX) and hydroperoxide-degrading glutathione peroxidase (GPOX) enzyme activities were studied in leaves of virus resistant Xanthi-nc and susceptible Samsun-nn tobacco cultivars after inoculation with Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Total LOX activity showed a maximum at pH 5.5 in cell-free extracts of uninfected leaves. LOX activity markedly increased at this pH after TMV inoculation, but a substantial induction was detected also in the basic pH range with an emerging peak around pH = 8.5. TMV-elicited LOX induction was weaker and appeared later in Samsun-nn than in Xanthi-nc leaves. GPOX activity was also substantially induced by TMV infection. However, this induction appeared only 4 days post-inoculation in resistant Xanthi-nc plants in tissues surrounding the localized necrotic lesions. In contrast, GPOX activity did not change in TMV-inoculated, susceptible Samsun-nn leaves. Several glutathione S-transferase (GST) isoenzymes also display GPOX activity. The expression of a tau class GST gene was markedly induced by TMV inoculation in Xanthi-nc leaves. This tobacco GST gene was partially cloned and sequenced.