KREPB5 is an essential component of ϳ20S editosomes in Trypanosoma brucei which contains a degenerate, noncatalytic RNase III domain. To explore the function of this protein, we used a novel approach to make and screen numerous conditional null T. brucei bloodstream form cell lines that express randomly mutagenized KREPB5 alleles. We identified nine single amino acid substitutions that could not complement the conditional loss of wild-type KREPB5. Seven of these were within the RNase III domain, and two were in the C-terminal region that has no homology to known motifs. Exclusive expression of these mutated KREPB5 alleles in the absence of wild-type allele expression resulted in growth inhibition, the loss of ϳ20S editosomes, and inhibition of RNA editing in BF cells. Eight of these mutations were lethal in bloodstream form parasites but not in procyclic-form parasites, showing that multiple domains function in a life cycle-dependent manner. Amino acid changes at a substantial number of positions, including up to 7 per allele, allowed complementation and thus did not block KREPB5 function. Hence, the degenerate RNase III domain and a newly identified domain are critical for KREPB5 function and have differential effects between the life cycle stages of T. brucei that differentially edit mRNAs.T he kinetoplastid parasite Trypanosoma brucei is the etiologic agent of human African trypanosomiasis, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly and is a health threat to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. T. brucei is a deeply divergent eukaryote, the study of which advanced the understanding of many fundamental biological processes and eukaryotic evolution. Indeed, a number of these processes, such as trans splicing, polycistronic transcription, antigenic variation, glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchoring, and mitochondrial RNA editing, were first described in trypanosomes and provided novel paradigms for eukaryotic biology (1-11). Kinetoplastids are named for their distinctive mitochondrial DNA network, known as the kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), within their single mitochondrion. The kDNA in T. brucei is comprised of ϳ50 identical maxicircles and thousands of heterogeneous minicircles (12, 13). The ϳ22-kb maxicircles encode two rRNAs and mRNAs for 18 mitochondrial proteins, 12 of which undergo posttranscriptional RNA editing to generate translatable open reading frames (ORFs). RNA editing involves the precise insertion and deletion of uridylylates (Us) at hundreds and tens of editing sites (ESs), respectively. The minicircles encode numerous diverse ϳ60-nucleotide guide RNAs (gRNAs) which specify edited sequences (14-16). Editing progresses generally, but not precisely, 3= to 5= with respect to the mRNA, each gRNA specifies the editing of numerous ESs, and multiple gRNAs are required for complete editing of most transcripts. T. brucei undergoes stage-specific adaptations in the bloodstream of the mammalian host and in the tsetse fly, particularly in mitochondrial function (17,18), and a number of maxicircle transcripts are ...