Upland cotton （Gossypium hirsutum L.），which accounts for more than 95% of the world′s cotton production，is the most important cultivated species in the Gossypium L. genus. Along with the introduction， cultivation and breeding of upland cotton in the past nearly one-hundred year in China，the genetic basis in cultivated cotton varieties gradually had become narrow. In order to broaden the genetic basis of upland cotton，the researchers and breeders have generated the genetic populations and excellent germplasm through sexual hybridization in recent decades. By taking advantage of recent achievements on molecular biology and genomics，the researchers uncovered the quantitative trait locus （QTL） in distant hybridization populations of cotton. Herein，we summarized the studies of distant hybridization in upland cotton with four tetraploid cotton species （G. barbadense L.，G. tomentosum Nutt. ex Seem.，G. mustelinum Miers ex Watt and G. darwinii G. Watt）. Generally，the genetic population which were gained from distant hybridization between upland cotton and four tetraploid cotton species，hosted excellent germplasms valuable in studies of the genetic improvement of agronomic traits，QTL mapping and gene mining. Moreover，the genetic components introgressed from G. barbadense L. to upland cotton had been found in upland cotton with a positive role during the improvement of upland cotton. Profiling from the publication of the cotton genome and its use in application of exploring cotton species，the foreseen enrichment in the genetic basis of upland cotton will become feasible in the future.