A top-down pass chooses one parsimonious state assignment.

highlighted = computed this step

Choose a root state first

The root Fitch set contains only A, so the top-down pass assigns A to the root. A child keeps the parent's state when that state is available in the child's set.

parent state in child setkeep it\text{parent state in child set} \Rightarrow \text{keep it}
Top-down assignmentStates are assigned deterministically from the Fitch sets.NodeAssigned state0A1C2A3A4G5A6A

Assigned changes match the score

Count an edge as changed when parent and child assigned states differ. The induced mutation count is 2, matching the score 2.

induced changes=2=score\text{induced changes}=2=\text{score}
Top-down assignmentStates are assigned deterministically from the Fitch sets.NodeAssigned state0A1C2A3A4G5A6A