Infection of Samsum NN tobacco with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) results in the induction of the synthesis of acidic and basic isoforms of many pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. By immunogold-electronmicroscopy we have shown that PR proteins accumulate mainly in cells around the necrotic spots of TMV-induced lesions. The acidic chitinases, beta-(1,3)-glucanases and thaumatin-like proteins were found to accumulate in extracellular "pocket-like" vesicles while the basic chitinases were found in electron dense inclusion bodies in the vacuoles. These structures were not detectable in PR-containing leaves devoid of virus nor in healthy plants.