A sample of milk is tested for its bacterial content in a plate count assay. A one-milliliter sample of the milk is diluted in a 1:10 dilution series. One milliliter of the third dilution tube is plated in a pour plate. After incubation, the plate has 54 colonies, indicating that the original milk sample contained .
a) 54 cells
b) 540 cells
c) 5400 cells
d) 54,000 cells
e) 540,000 cells