Abstract: Barley yellow dwarf virus （BYDVs） belongs to Luteovirus, the Luteovirdae family. Wheat yellow dwarf disease caused by BYDV first occurred and was reported in the United States, and has been reported in other regions abroad. In China, the disease first occurred and was reported in Shannxi and Gansu in 1960. In recent years, it has also occurred in other regions of China. The disease is called a "cancer" on wheat crops, which has a great impact on wheat crop production. When confronted with severe damage, the outputs of wheat crops were reduced greatly. The classification of BYDV strains is based on the specificity of its transmission vector, that is, a virus strain can only be transmitted by one or two aphids. According to the classification system of the ICTV International Virus Commission, the virus strains identified internationally include BYDV-MAV, BYDV-PAV, BYDV-RMV, BYDV-SGV et al, and 4 strains have been identified in China, which are BYDV-PAV, BYDV-GPV, BYDV-GAV and BYDV-RMV. BYDV-GAV is a prevalent strain in China. This article mainly reviews the disease symptoms, strain differentiation, transmission vector, genome structure and function, disease prevention and control of BYDV, focusing on the research of resistance identification and resistance genes of BYDV-GAV. And then a certain theoretical basis is provided for the disease resistance breeding and control.