Step 1: Gluconeogenesis is the making of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. It largely reverses glycolysis but must bypass the three irreversible glycolytic steps using its own unique enzymes.
Step 2: One of these unique bypass reactions is the conversion of oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), catalysed by PEP carboxykinase. This step belongs to gluconeogenesis and has no role in glycolysis or the citric acid cycle, so it is specific.
Step 3: Pyruvate to acetyl CoA (option a) is an irreversible step of pyruvate oxidation, not gluconeogenesis. Oxaloacetate to citrate (option b) and malate to oxaloacetate (option d) are steps of the citric acid cycle, which are shared with other pathways.
Step 4: Therefore the step specific for gluconeogenesis is oxaloacetate to PEP, making option c correct.