Dasypyrum villosum （L.） Candargy is one of wild relatives of common wheat （Triticum aestivum L.）. It is also the genetic resources for wheat improvement and has been widely used in recent years. In the long-term evolution process， D. villosum evolved many important agronomic traits， such as resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses， excellent quality， which are useful in wheat genetic improvement. This review paper briefly describes the homologous relationship between D. villosum and T. aestivum， the hybridization affinity with Triticum， and the effective methods for introgressing D. villosum chromosome disease，chromosome segments and genes into T. aestivum. The resistance genes of D. villosum to powdery mildew disease， sheath blight disease， stripe rust disease， eye spot disease， yellow mosaic disease， take-all disease， and cyst nematode disease on chromosome， the quality genes （such as ： high lysine content and polymorphic storage protein， etc.）， the drought tolerance， photoperiod and other genes were also reviewed. The application and great value of powdery mildew resistance genes of Pm21 and PmV in wheat improvement and breeding were introduced. The future research prospects and possible problems on D. villosum research were prospected.This review might provide reference for exploring and utilizing the beneficial genes of D. villosum， to broaden wheat genetic resources， accelerate the breeding process and functional investigation of important genes.