What temperature condition occurs during the denature stage of PCR?

During the denaturation stage of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a high temperature is applied to the reaction mixture. This high temperature, typically around 94°C to 98°C, is critical as it serves to break the hydrogen bonds that hold the double-stranded DNA together, resulting in the separation of the two strands. This step is essential for allowing the subsequent primers to bind to their complementary sequences on the single-stranded DNA during the annealing phase.

In contrast, lower temperature conditions would not effectively separate the DNA strands, leading to insufficient availability of single-stranded DNA for the next stages of the PCR process. Thus, establishing the correct high-temperature conditions is vital for the success of the PCR amplification process.