When two genes (A and B) are involved in a pathway, both are required to make functional products for expression. When there's a presence of recessive allele of either of the two genes, it results in the expression of a mutant phenotype. The normal ratio of a self-crossed dihybrid is 9:3:3:1, but due to epistatic interations of the A and B genes, the ratio gets modified to 9:7. The 9 portions in this ratio will correspond to the A_B_ genotype i.e., (AaBb, AABb, AaBB, AABB).