偃麦草属植物（Thinopyrum spp.）是小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）的近缘植物，具有多年生生长习性，并且抗多种生物胁迫和非生物胁迫，可以应用于小麦遗传改良。偃麦草的很多优良性状可通过渐渗育种培育小麦品种。偃麦草的多年生习性是一种由多个未知基因控制的复杂的数量性状。偃麦草属植物可以与普通小麦杂交产生双二倍体或部分双二倍体。此外，通过偃麦草直接驯化也可以选育多年生小麦。小麦- 偃麦草杂种后代结合了双亲的优异性状，可以粮饲兼用。小麦- 偃麦草杂种后代能够适应多种农业生态系统。本文总结了利用偃麦草培育多年生小麦的发展情况，以及小麦-偃麦草杂种的遗传特点、选育方法以及应用前景。

Wheatgrasses (Thinopyrum spp.), which are relatives of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), have a perennial growth habit and offer resistance to a diversity of biotic and abiotic stresses, making them useful in wheat improvement. Many of these desirable traits from Thinopyrum spp. have been used to develop wheat cultivars by introgression breeding. The perennial growth habit of wheatgrasses inherits as a complex quantitative trait that is controlled by many unknown genes. Previous studies have indicated that Thinopyrum spp. are able to hybridize with wheat and produce viable/stable amphiploids or partial amphiploids. Meanwhile, efforts have been made to develop perennial wheat by domestication of Thinopyrum spp. The most promising perennial wheat–Thinopyrum lines can be used as grain and/or forage crops, which combine the desirable traits of both parents. The wheat–Thinopyrum lines can adapt to diverse agricultural systems. This paper summarizes the development of perennial wheat based on Thinopyrum, and the genetic aspects, breeding methods, and perspectives of wheat–Thinopyrum hybrids.