41Exercise capacity is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality. Skeletal muscle mitochondrial 42 respiratory capacity, its biggest contributor, adapts robustly to changes in energy demands 43 induced by contractile activity. While transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial enzymes has 44 been extensively studied, there is limited information on how mitochondrial membrane lipids are 45 regulated. Herein, we show that exercise training or muscle disuse alters mitochondrial 46 membrane phospholipids including phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Addition of PE promoted, 47 whereas removal of PE diminished, mitochondrial respiratory capacity. Surprisingly, skeletal 48 muscle-specific inhibition of mitochondrial-autonomous synthesis of PE caused a respiratory 49 failure due to metabolic insults in the diaphragm muscle. While mitochondrial PE deficiency 50 coincided with increased oxidative stress, neutralization of the latter did not rescue lethality. 51 These findings highlight the previously underappreciated role of mitochondrial membrane 52 phospholipids in dynamically controlling skeletal muscle energetics and function. 53 54 55 157 3B&C), without changes in abundance of ETS enzymes (Figure 3D). PE molecules are bound to 158 ETS complexes I, II, III, and IV, likely facilitating conformational changes and acting as an 159