Final answer:
After denaturation and annealing, the next step in the PCR process is extension, where Taq polymerase synthesizes new DNA strands from the primers. This step is part of a repetitive cycle that includes denaturation, annealing, and extension, resulting in the exponential amplification of the target DNA segment. The correct option is c.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the initial steps of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), the next step in the process is extension. During extension, an enzyme known as Taq polymerase adds nucleotides to the DNA primers, which results in the synthesis of new DNA strands. Each PCR cycle consists of denaturation, annealing, and extension, which occur at high, intermediate, and optimal enzyme activity temperatures, respectively. In the denaturation step, the DNA is heated to separate the strands. During annealing, the temperature is lowered so that primers can bind to their complementary sequences on the single-stranded DNA. Then, in the extension phase, Taq polymerase adds nucleotides to the primers, creating new strands of DNA. These steps are repeated through multiple cycles, each cycle doubling the amount of DNA, which effectively amplifies the desired DNA segment.