What does Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment pertain to?

Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment pertains to the interaction of different genes during the formation of gametes. This law states that alleles for different traits are distributed to sex cells (and therefore offspring) independently of one another. This independence occurs during meiosis, specifically during the metaphase I stage, when chromosome pairs align at the cell's equatorial plane. The various combinations of alleles result from the random assortment of maternal and paternal chromosomes into gametes.

The significance of this law can be illustrated with a classic Mendelian dihybrid cross, where two traits are studied simultaneously. It shows that the inheritance of one trait does not influence the inheritance of another if the genes are located on different chromosomes. Thus, the concept encompasses how genetic variation is enhanced through independent assortment during cell division, which is directly related to the arrangement of chromosomes during meiosis.