Antioxidant status was assayed in leaves of two local lesion hosts of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), namely in wild-type Xanthi-nc tobacco and in NahG transgenic tobacco, the latter of which is not able to accumulate salicylic acid (SA) and therefore is unable to develop systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Activities of several enzymes related to antioxidative defense, and the levels of glutathione, chlorogenic acid and rutin were studied. The majority of antioxidant enzymes were less active in uninfected NahG tobacco than in Xanthi-nc. Furthermore, important enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were down-regulated in TMV-infected NahG plants, as compared to Xanthi-nc. Correspondingly, SA pretreatment primed the leaves for stronger induction of antioxidants in infected Xanthi-nc, but not in NahG tobaccos. The antioxidant status of NahG tobacco even decreased after an attempted induction of SAR, while the antioxidative level increased in Xanthi-nc leaves in which the SAR was successfully induced. After infection, a greater accumulation of superoxide and H2O2, and a more intensive necrotization was positively correlated with the reduced capability of NahG leaf tissue to detoxify reactive oxygen species.