Identification and expression profiling of flowering-related microRNAs and their targets reveals complex regulatory networks associated with bolting time in spinach

•Expressed miRNAs, known for their impact on flowering time were identified.•In this study 40 target genes classified into seven flowering-related pathways were identified.•Strong correlation between two accession was identified in related to miR156, miR160, miR164, miR166, miR169, and miR399.